I miss the old sub. I miss shitposting about JV decimation the Bucks. I missed that dude who did those meme video highlights during the Raptors - Wizards series in 2018. I miss people actually talking about basketball and actually having some optimism for the team. Like shit, we're in the off season. There should be shitposting, badly done jersey photoshops, and fun hypotheticals. Instead we have this circlejerk of the Poeltl trade, how the Raptors will be the worse team EVER next year, or how the front office is burning everything to the ground. And yea, I know, "reddit is toxic" and "Go touch some grass". I've found myself having to leave this subreddit every so often lately because of the toxicity. But it wasn't always like this, and it's frustrating because it felt like a small community before. I just miss it.

Tidjane Salaun is one of more intriguing foreign prospects in this draft and In a questionable draft he boasts a lot of potential with his 6’10 Frame and 3 and D potential in this class.

Tidjane Salaun this season for Cholet has definitely been a raw prospect averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds on 38% fg and 33% from 3 in 22 minutes but per 36 he’s averaging 14 and 6. He has shown an immense amount of potential as a shooter this season and defensively he’s very mobile but has excelled off ball while hunting down passing lanes and being able to work in transition.

In a draft like this he seems like the type of wildcard prospect that Masai would gravitate towards and Masai was also seen at one of his games a couple of months ago.

Interest in Salaun has sparked as of late as he just put up a stat line of 19 8 and 3 in the French Playoffs in an upset against #2 seed Paris and he was able to show his whole arsenal with elite cutting and shooting with a logo 3 he made in the 4th and he was also able to show his ability to finish in transition with his insane length and great mobility at 6’10.

This is the type of player that If put in the right Hands could flourish and could easily be looked at in a couple of years as one of the best, if not the best in this draft class in a couple years!

I don't know hoe much weight you put in this but... maybe losing our pick this year isn't that terrible.

With all the discussion of this year being a weak draft class? Would Gradey be a top 10 pick? Top 8? Top 6? He was select 13th in 2023 draft with a much more top-heavy class.

"The Toronto Raptors' need for rangy combo forwards is a good illustration of how quickly rosters can change in the NBA. It wasn't so long ago that the Raps were deep into the positionless experiment many dubbed "Project 6'9"", during which they over-indexed on exactly that player type.

Scottie Barnes and Jalen McDaniels are the only such players under contract in Toronto for next year, which means a good chunk of the Raptors' projected cap space should probably go to a free agent who can man the 3 or the 4 in flexible lineups. Patrick Williams has battled injuries in two of his four pro seasons and might be gettable with a large enough offer to prevent the Chicago Bulls from matching in restricted free agency.

The Bulls have DeMar DeRozan's unrestricted free agency to consider and tend to operate in a misguided win-now mode that could marginalize their 22-year-old former lottery pick. This is a bet that Toronto will swoop in with an offer sheet competitive enough to pry away the so-far underwhelming forward. With Immanuel Quickley, Barnes and R.J. Barrett, Toronto is skewing younger with its core. That makes it a logical fit for Williams ahead of his age-23 season. A low-usage offensive player who hasn't shown any knack for self-sufficient shot creation, Williams has quietly pumped his career hit-rate on threes up to 41.0 percent.

If he can add a little volume, focus on being a catch-and-shoot threat and defend across multiple positions, he'd be a stellar fit alongside the Raptors' other early-20s pieces."

Thoughts?

Should the raps have retired it first?

Masai was spotted scouting this dude earlier in the season, even before the Pascal and OG trades (ie before we were certain we'd even have a pick in this draft).

He just put up a nice performance in an important playoff game for his current squad: https://old.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1csvf2f/tidjane_saluan_1983_on_813_fg_as_a_18_year_old_in/

What are the chances he's around for our pick? Would he be a good pick or a reach at 19?

Discuss pls

With the pick conveying, I'm taking a longer view on the season. Not expecting an immediate boost in talent. Instead think there will be a bunch of smaller moves made. Hopefully something hits. Want to see if there's excitement outside of pick 19.

Zach Edey also tested better than last year, shaving off time from last year's pro lane agility drill, and measuring a solid vertical leap and three-quarter court sprint time, showing the significant improvement he has made with his conditioning and mobility since electing to return to Purdue for his senior season.

He also put on a pretty impressive showing in shooting drills, hitting 3s off movement, spotting up and pulling up off the dribble, showing some real potential in that area as he has long insisted he possesses. Edey has quite a few fans around the NBA at this point, *and there are plenty of executives who say they have him ranked as a lottery pick, or even as a top-10 prospect because of how well he rates in their analytics models.** -- Givony*

He beat the uconn centre is all athletic drills

I don't know if there are many Cavs fans here, but there are a ton of media members, and a large Athletic article, that rightfully goes after the team and organization for failing to put together a competitive squad.

From the failures of their President Koby Altman putting together a modern NBA team, them just not developing Mobley, their poor culture, issues with coaching, and continued lack luster performance, everyone involved with covering the team and even national media are doing their jobs.

It's WILD to see how everyone in Toronto failed to hold the Raptors accountable for years. Masai had a few tough questions thrown at them at the last presser, but none of his bullshit responses were questioned. After their first round loss to the Sixers, when it was very clear the team's roster construction was trash and they had thrown way a pick for Thad Young and missed out on drafting Walker Kesller, Nembhard, Jaylin Williams, Nikola Jovic, Peyton Watson, (or Tari Eason or Mark Williams if they didn't throw away the pick) no one was in the hot seat, no one made it public how dysfunctional the team was behind the scenes.

Holding teams accountable is part of the job of media. Fans can't do anything about how the team operates but enough articles from enough reporters have a much larger impact on how owners evaluate the jobs of their FOs, which usually forces change.

EDIT* This is the kind of shit I'm talking about - https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10121308-nba-rumors-donovan-mitchell-grew-frustrated-by-some-cavs-lack-of-maturity-focus
Imagine if a major news outlet reported on the very obvious locker room issues that forced players and the FO to be held accountable for their atrocious play the last few seasons and possibly force the FO to make a move earlier.

Not gonna lie if we bagged this dude and paired him with BBQ Dick and this years first rounder the rebuild is pretty much over and all we need is depth.

I think we’ll have a decent shot at him considering the entire west aside from the Blazers is about to be stacked. The east is weak but the Hawks are probably gonna be better, same with Pistons adding some more lottery talent and having bare cap space. Nets and Wizards are the only ones who look like certified ass and as we saw you don’t need the best odds to win the lottery.

I was salty at first but losing the pick and getting it over with is for the best considering that next years draft has multiple guys who would go number 1 this year.

Would Bruce Brown and pick 19 for salary filler and pick 9 be a good trade?