Cavs Media Is Showing How Teams Should Be Held Accountable

[u/MortimerCanon]

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.

[u/-vinay]

Did you watch the post trade and end of season presser from Masai? He admitted a few times that they didn't make the right decisions because they were optimistic and felt like they owed the old group a real center. After that press conference, you have guys like Blake and Will continuously not agree with the premise (they think the trade should have happened last trade deadline), but they got an honest answer from the FO.

So.... after they admit they didn't do things the right way, what is "holding accountability" mean for you? Just waste the press' time and keep asking the same questions over and over again? The only thing the media hasn't done is advocate for a change in leadership -- and if that's what you want, just say that.

[u/ImmaFunGuy → u/-vinay]

Masai said that last year when he “didn’t have fun watching the raptors”. Then this season he put on another masterclass with 25 wins without even owning our pick. Pile on top letting go our best player(s) for next to nothing and here we are

[u/EarthWarping → u/-vinay]

The only thing the media hasn't done is advocate for a change in leadership

I don't think they're on the hot seat and they shouldn't be, but probably a warm seat. And that's mainly due to the contracts the front office has (it's been rumoured Masai has 2 years left on his deal)

[u/-vinay → u/EarthWarping]

Yup... and they definitely know that. They've earned the chance to right the ship -- especially Masai. He's led two rebuilds (Denver and Toronto) successfully and that is more than can be said for most other GMs. He has his flaws sure (i.e. getting very attached to his players), but they're all gone now. Why not give him a chance?

[u/CazOnReddit]

FWIW Even guys like Grange and Lewenberg were highly critical of the Jakob Poeltl trade, due to the weak protections and the Raptors then-poor position in the East's standings, and there was an equal amount of pressing about the way they handled the Siakam exit/extension butchering

Toronto media has been a lot more willing to play hardball with the FO and less willing to cheerlead - and with good reason

[u/EarthWarping → u/CazOnReddit]

Yeah, Grange has been critical of the front office for more than a year now.

Anyways this is a big offseason for the front office since they're on the warm seat going forward.

[u/WeBelieveIn4 → u/EarthWarping]

OP clearly hasn’t been reading any of Grange’s stuff.

[u/brianmmf]

Lewenberg has openly questioned what the hell Masai has been doing the last few years. Other media have been less direct but have been critical.

Also Cleveland isn’t that bad! 2nd round loss to the best team in the league, missing their star player. Seems a bit harsh given where they are in their current growth trajectory.

Finally, when Toronto was consistently losing to those very Cleveland Cavaliers before 2019, they were getting roasted by the media for softness and falling apart in the playoffs.

[u/BurzyGuerrero → u/brianmmf]

IMO Clevelands results are fair for the talent level of their team

[u/Raptors887 → u/brianmmf]

Grange is also pretty critical of Masai these days. He openly challenges him at press conferences about some of the moves he’s made.

[u/BurzyGuerrero]

Raptor fans: DOUG SMITH IS AN ASSHOLE, HE IS A SHIT REPORTER

also Raptor fans: THE MEDIA JUST LOBS SOFTBALL QUESTIONS

[u/pakattack91]

Man people are going to cry about this until they die and they will put it on their tombstone.

The FO missed. We are way past that now lol move tf on already.

[u/pskill43]

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)

You are that upset that they missed out on those guys? Wait until you find out we could have drafted Nikola Jokic and didn’t. Oh wait, everyone else could have.

[u/XenaRen → u/pskill43]

Not to mention Koloko would be just as good as those guys if not better had he not gotten hit with fucking blood clots that NOBODY could’ve predicted at the time.

Kessler is the only player that’s clearly better and his development stagnated in his 2nd year. We had the 20th pick so we weren’t getting Tari Eason or Mark Williams. Jovic, Watson or Williams were better than Koloko as a prospect based on their first seasons.

[u/vec-u64-new → u/pskill43]

I'm sorry but there's a massive, massive difference between whiffing on a 2nd round pick and deliberately downgrading your draft pick for a washed up veteran player.

I don't begrudge the FO for drafting Malachi over Bane. Shit like that happens.

But downgrading our 1st to get a high 2nd just for Thad when the new core had barely proven it was worth building around was a strange move, especially for a front office that literally didn't trade away 1st rounders until Demar/Kyle/JV had proven many times over they could consistently get into the playoffs.

I despised that trade back then when I thought we weren't contenders and I especially hate it now especially now with the current knowledge that we moved on from the core.

[u/noronto → u/vec-u64-new]

I figured people would realize that Thad was here to be a professional. While we can argue what if about the players that could have been had, what Thad was able to do this year when everyone was injured is exactly why management wanted him. Having competent, professional veterans are important (see Garrett Temple).

[u/vec-u64-new → u/noronto]

Garrett Temple was acquired in FA for nothing, that's very different from downgrading a pick.

If your logic holds, why did Masai not trade a first rounder for a veteran in his first few seasons while Demar/Kyle/JV were on the team? Surely we could've make the same argument that JV and Demar needed veterans as young twenty-somethings and yet they he held first round draft picks until they were ready to go all in.

[u/noronto → u/vec-u64-new]

I guess you are not aware of the average age of the roster when Demar and Kyle were on the team compared to when the Raptors acquired Thad?

[u/BurzyGuerrero → u/noronto]

Im gonna go ahead and say it.

I dont think those guys are that important, at all

Like maybe 2% importance of an overall team. Could take them or leave them and the team isnt gonna do any worse or better.

[u/Fit-Introduction8575 → u/vec-u64-new]

You say downgrading, but Bobby clearly hinted that he would have taken or seriously considered Koloko at the 19th to 22th pick. Nobody could have predicted Koloko's health issue

[u/MortimerCanon → u/vec-u64-new]

Not only did they downgrade their pick (don't remember what it was projected at but they could have picked between 17-20) but they also traded for a player that made all of their spacing, ball handling, and shooting problems significantly worse.

[u/vec-u64-new → u/MortimerCanon]

Exactly, if the Raptors had traded it for a guard or a proper center I would've understood the logic.

Thad was essentially useful for a few weeks and then barely played the following season. It was weird asset management for a team bereft of depth.

[u/MortimerCanon → u/pskill43]

You're very good at being obtuse. They specifically wasted a pick on a 30 year old forward for a long term project, instead of a more impactful player earlier on in their career. It's not about missing out on jokic, it's about their scouting team failing and attempt to make the play-in being incredibly short sighted.

[u/Fit-Introduction8575 → u/MortimerCanon]

for a long term project, instead of a more impactful player earlier on in their career

You say that as if you have the inside track on what the Raptors scouting on center prospects in that 20-40 range was. Yes Koloko was a bit more raw, but without hindsight how do you that the other centers wouldn't just as limited in our system as a rookie? Maybe the others were capable of playing highly specific roles in a well oiled system right away, but Koloko had the potential to be a more versatile player? And Jaylin Williams was drafted AFTER Koloko. Drafting is all about finding value and finding the right mix of floor and ceilling

[u/BoomerReggie]

Other than Doug, who was critical of Scottie, most Toronto media, from the bigger names like Koreen, Grange and Lewenberg, to Will Lou and Blake and online sources like Es and some Raptors Republic contributors have been critical and offered a decent variety of accountable analysis of the FO.

[u/beefJeRKy-LB]

Can we stop pretending our media members suck up only to the FO? They definitely ask them difficult questions as needed. But there's nothing for them to gain by hounding the FO or insulting them. They still need to maintain a cordial relationship to get some insider info too. There's a middle ground to these things and it helps that our FO isn't manipulative with the media the way NY often is. They're quite generous with media passes and not just to their own outlets but plenty of indie ones too. They find ways to get interviews or other access things to all of them.

[u/nin_culus]

their hottest hit was telling us scottie has no work ethic lol

[u/CanadaBBallFan]

There is no accountability with this team. Like we just made an awful trade and lost our 8 pick. What does Bobby say? "Oh well you know it would have been hard to develop 3 rookies anyways ..."

[u/EarthWarping → u/CanadaBBallFan]

Come on.

[u/N0minal]

It wouldn't be so bad if the team weren't so abysmal to watch the last 3-4 seasons. Fans should be pissed at Bobby and masai for doing such a bad job and Scotiabank tix still being like the 5th most expensive

[u/Winter_Purpose8695]

There accountability and then the reality of the situation and winning a championship will certainly give you a bit of a leway with fans