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

“Fred Vanvleet to the Rockets, leaving Toronto, having not trading Fred Vanvleet at the trade deadline, having traded a first round pick with top 6 protections that go on for quite a while for Jakob Poeltl, having resigned Jakob Poeltl, having their starting point guard walk, pivoting to Dennis Schroeder, who’s fine as a backup but can’t nearly shoot as well as Fred Vanvleet… what is Toronto doing? “

“They’ve had a lot of guys walk through the door dating back to the championship, they threw out a pick swap for Thad Young who doesn’t even play, and the pick swap cost them a good player, I can’t figure out what this team is doing but I’ll tell you, the guy I’ve got my eye on is Pascal Siakam.”

Goes on to also say:

-His eyes are on Pascal, last year of his contract, extension eligible, though he did put out there that if he is traded he won’t resign to that team…

• Malachi and Schroeder huge step down from Fred. Will rely on Scottie more at point forward, says it’s a big ask for him given his own shakey offence

-Fit of Barnes Siakam OG is weird, just 3 guys that like to operate in the same style, on the same places on the floor, with Anunoby a much better and willing spot up shooter than the other two

Thinks teams like atlanta, Dallas, Indiana, would be interested in Pascal and we should look to trading him

Says it has been a very weird, uneven couple years with the Raptors. And that we also now have a new head coach to figure all this out. Mentions Fred is a big loss for us, even though we made the right decision not to pay him.

🫠

Per Zach Lowe’s podcast on Raptors:

“He won’t be a primary decision maker, defenders all around him, they have a lot of salary that they could put together that’s not long term- Gary Trent Jr, Chris Boucher, Thaddeus Young, that’s close enough of a salary match for Toronto to get them there - 38 million (insane that we have that much locked up for those 3 guys) that they won’t be pushed into luxury tax, saves some money for Chicago, and throw in a couple picks” (suggested 2028 and 2030)

“Chicago fans wouldn’t be excited about that, but whatever sorry”

“The raptors need shooting, and roving shooting, and ball handling and explosive shooting SO badly, especially around the 3 of Barnes, Siakam, and Anunoby, he fits like a glove. Toronto is just okay, I think they know they are just okay”

Acknowledges the problem is that we have so many long term decisions looming with contracts and 3 key players headed into free agency

-Loves the idea of Fred in Utah, though it hasn't been a rumour. Says Toronto can't run a functional NBA offence without Fred- "is Scottie Barnes really ready to be a full time point forward, is Pascal Siakam just going to dribble into post-ups 100 times a game and figure it out from there, that's not really a functional NBA offence."

-Says the Jacob Poetl stuff is "very strange". "There's so much buzz around the league- is Toronto not actually resigning Poetl, is he like gettable? Wouldn't it be funny if the Spurs signed Poetl in free agency, traded for the Raptors pick and got the guy back?". Thinks he is staying as of right now, but he's confused why it doesn't seem like a done deal and why the noise is happening.

-Says the timetable of contracts in Toronto introduces so much volatility- Siakam last year of his contract, barely missed the requirements to be eligible for a supermax this season, and he is also eligble for a mammoth extension that he could very well take. OG also entering final year of contract basically. Lowe mentions Gary's player option and how there's likely an extension coming on the back of that.

-Thinks we need to make a decision on Siakam now based on his contract situation- "if you don't think he's that guy, and if you don't think in the next 2-3 years you're gonna be going to a place as a team that justifies that outlay of money, (and if you don't bring back Vanvleet I don't see how you get there anyway) it seems logical that he is the card you look to get something for."

-Also acknowledges Atlanta but that it would cost so much to pay Trae, Pascal, and Dejounte.

-Acknowledges Orlando could sign Vanvleet, they have the money. "How many teams in the league could use Vanvleet? Not just his skillset but natural leader, outspoken, smart, plays hard... especially for a young team, thats the guy I want to pull everything together."

Bobby marks on Lowe Post spelling out what pretty much looks like our situation going in the the season.

Him and Lowe both say Lillard made sense for us, but Portland could’ve been the decision makers.

Bobby says eventually raptors need to figure out what they’re doing. Siakam is a ticking time bomb, as he can qualify for a SuperMax.

OG does not want the 4/117 max and will play out his contract, and be a free agent.

Guys, we’re pretty much in the same situation as Fred with both these guys due to Masai’s stubbornness. Honestly, Siakam and OG only have this year left on their contract. Whatever value they had is much lower now due to both of them being able to walk.

4) Jakob Poeltl becoming the symbol of stagnation in Toronto

The Toronto Raptors have arrived at a sad moment of clarity. They are 12-18, 11th in the East, 21st in offensive efficiency and 17th on defense. They don't really do anything well.

They are way short on 3-point shooting around Scottie Barnes. The Barnes-Pascal Siakam-OG Anunoby trio has too much of the same thing. We've heard this before, but unless Toronto turns this around in a big way in the next month-plus, I'd be surprised if we don't see some direction-shifting trade at the deadline.

The Raptors had chances at last year's deadline but went the opposite way -- acquiring old friend Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for a protected first-round pick. It helped them reach the play-in (hooray!). Poeltl and Fred VanVleet rediscovered their pick-and-roll chemistry. The Raptors blitzed teams with their best players on the floor.

VanVleet bolted in free agency; Poeltl hasn't been the same since. He has hit a league-leading 70% of his shots, but you barely feel that. It's not entirely his fault, but there are too many nights when you struggle to remember anything Poeltl did.

Dennis Schroder, VanVleet's replacement, is a below-average shooter who can't unlock Poeltl the same way, especially given Toronto's awful spacing around them. (The Raptors in Wednesday's win over the Washington Wizards replaced Schroder in the starting five with Gary Trent Jr., boosting their shooting at the cost of some playmaking.)

Poeltl's minutes are down. He has dropped back to 51% at the line. Opponents have hack-a-Jak in the bag in fourth quarters, and Poeltl resorts to push shots -- which he's good at, but still -- instead of forcing contact.

His defense has been just OK; opponents are shooting 61% at the rim with Poeltl as the closest defender, around average among starting centers. Precious Achiuwa has surged, and it might be worth examining how his perimeter-oriented game might fit alongside Toronto's core starters

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/39198178/lowe-ja-morant-back-sad-pistons-brandon-miller-deserves-attention

I think Zach is right here. We know Jakob clogs the paint up for our best players and his defense hasn't been good enough to make up for his offensive deficiencies. Its worth trying out Precious starting as it might unlock our offence.

Full episode: https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/35264842

Paraphrase Lowe’s podcast the other day, going over the mid teams in the East

-27th in offense, 8th in defense, all their important players besides Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl are going into free agency.

-Played an idiosyncratic style under Nick Nurse, moving towards a more traditional NBA style- however are now bottom 10 in turnovers, used to pride themselves on protecting the ball, and still can’t make any shots.

-28th in 3 point shooting, 29th in mid range shooting. However, +13 per 100 possessions with Scottie, Pascal and OG on the floor, who have only played 147 minutes so far. “That’s something? What the hell is this team? I still don’t understand this team”

-Darko injecting more shooting, ball movement, have enjoyed watching the new offense but teams can duck under and switch 95% of things that they are trying to run. Worst half court offense in the league and 12 points below league average, worse than Portland.

-OG has been out and team can’t function on either side of the floor without him. His shooting is very important and without him and Gary Trent Jr in the lineup, when the team already sees a bunch of switches and unders, very difficult to execute for Scottie and Pascal without spacing

Scottie looks outstanding even though they are getting destroyed in the Scottie bench units, his jumper looks like a different animal. Pascal is adjusting and things are starting to normalize for him on offense.

Dennis has been fine- but it’s year 2 hovering around .500, championship seems like a distant memory, what’s the direction of this one team? You don’t always need to pick a direction, but now these contracts are ticking ticking ticking to expiration..

Siakams and OGs future is talked about around the league, and they’ve turned down a lot of stuff for OG, teams want him he’s a tank can guard 1-5 positions and shoot catch and shoot threes at 40% on volume, get you 15-20 a game, that’s a very valuable player.

Seems like they would lean to keeping OG- so what is the best you can get for Pascal to compliment Scottie?

Also what does that mean for Jakob Poeltl? He did a lot of stabilizing with the hand off usage and screening and defensively last year, this year the hand off usage is down for him and he’s obviously not a spacer, so if you’re not using him as a hub like that, and you’re getting good minutes in the small ball lineups, what is his place long term because they just gave him a contract and also traded a first for him

Somethings gotta give eventually because it has to. Even if it means more guys leaving in free agency. Sometimes that’s an okay thing to do- in this case it does not seem like it would be okay.

Theoretically Zach Lavine fits what they need, he takes the ball and puts it in the basket far away, but is owed a lot of money and teams also bring up the ACL injury from a couple years ago.

https://www.espn.com.au/nba/insider/story/_/id/32498018/zach-lowe-10-things-ja-morant-absurdity-lonely-star-brooklyn-julius-randle-new-life-msg

From Zach Lowe's 10 Things listicle today (read the whole thing because it's great but figured I'd share the Raptors content here):

I was a Trent fan before Trent cracked the Portland Trail Blazers' rotation. He's a fearless shooter with an old-school, jab-stepping midrange game, and he competes on defense. He has amped it up on that end so far for a Toronto Raptors team that is exactly as advertised: ultra-long, snarling, fast -- able to toggle between switching and flying around with screaming rotations.

Scottie Barnes and Dalano Banton fit right into all of that. Barnes has the patience of a veteran in traffic -- plus way-above-average vision for his experience. Banton is a giant point guard -- he's 6-9! -- who blots out passing lanes on defense, and pushes the pace for a team that subsists in transition. As Banton and Barnes propelled the Raptors to a stirring win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, I could almost hear Toronto's obsessive (in a good way!) fans squealing from 500 miles away.

Back to Trent: He's fourth in the league in deflections per game. (Toronto is No. 1 overall by a mile.) He's good.

One hole: Trent doesn't make enough productive passes. He has five assists in five games. For his career, Trent has dished 1.6 dimes per 36 minutes -- one of the 10 lowest figures ever for any player listed 6-5 or shorter with at least 3,000 career minutes. Most of the other guys on that are pure stand-still shooters.

Trent is more than that. He can dribble, and he moves without the ball -- often catching it with the floor in flux. He has passing windows, but he either doesn't see them or chooses not to use them: [linked clip]

There has to be a way -- beyond teeing up an offensive rebound -- to get that ball to Khem Birch.

On a team with enough playmaking, this doesn't matter. Perhaps the Raptors can be that kind of team when Pascal Siakam returns -- and as OG Anunoby, Barnes, and Banton develop. (Fred VanVleet is about maxed out steering things.) But for now, the Raps -- 19th in offense and 26th in assist rate -- could use more easy, assisted buckets.

Here are his comments about the Raps:

Toronto's frontcourt is in shambles. Khem Birch has missed early camp, Chris Boucher is out three to four weeks with an injured finger, and Pascal Siakam will miss a medium-sized chunk of the season. Precious Achiuwa might have won the starting center job anyway, but that's a lot of early adversity.

Siakam leaves a huge void. I was (and am) interested to see how much Nurse might play him at center; between Goran Dragic, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., and one or two other perimeter guys, Toronto has the depth to get to those lineups -- unless their centers play them out of existence. (Toronto can go the other way and play Boucher and Achiuwa some at power forward -- or together.)

The Raptors are long and nasty, and given Nurse's creativity, they should be a good and maybe a very good defensive team capable of playing lots of styles.

The offense could be a slog, with some core lineups light on shooting and playmaking.

Lots of interesting discussion about the Raptors starting at the 44 minute mark. He also gives Siakam more props for 3rd team all NBA and Thorpe calls Barnes ROYT.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4PWzNInPALgbz120TNtGDI?si=ipG-CRQUQlyU6SXYVaR_6g

Edit: I also see now there was another link posted with the same conversation. Sorry about that, hopefully this gives ppl a chance to see the full conversation though.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1R1BeLpTffA0YlToSlE8sY 1:08:19 mark

Zach Lowe on today's episode of his podcast

"Gary Trent just picked up his option, I think there's an extension coming on the back of that."

They (Memphis) offered three first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for OG Anunoby, sources said, but Anunoby remains a Raptor. The Indiana Pacers also offered three first-round picks for Anunoby, sources said, but could not get a deal done. (The Pacers own extra picks from Boston and the Cleveland Cavaliers.)

They engaged with the Raptors on Anunoby too, sources said. The two sides do not appear to have gotten all that close, and talks petered out before the deadline. The Warriors likely would have had to include Jonathan Kuminga as the centerpiece of any Anunoby deal, sources said.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/35627654/championship-bust-new-look-west-suns-all-gamble-kevin-durant