djsunyc wrote:this trade is 100% proof positive that there is a real anti-canada anti-raptor sentiment with the media.

but the memes are pretty funny tho.

Don't take it personally, you being Canadian and all.

meanwhile, if you lose in the playoffs again, we reserve the right to criticize you any way we see fit.

raptors significantly upgraded their roster. there is no question about it - even IF kawhi is 60% the player he was prior to injury. every single one of demar's advanced metrics for the playoffs are just bad. not just this past season but his entire career. raptors won every single minute of the cavs series dd did not play. considering game 1 went to OT and game 3 was won on a buzzer beater - that really matters.

every single player's DRTG is worse when they're on the court with him. if that wasn't the case, he'd still be here and the raptors probably would have more playoff success.

this is simply a gm that was fed up with the playoffs sweeps and said it's not getting done and made two major moves. even lowry, imho, is not safe. i think the loyalty thing is way overblown. i think this was a major logistical situation since ujiri was in africa with obama building schools and stuff. making this deal from there and trying to get all ducks in a row was probably tough as hell.

with that said, it's a slow news cycle so there has to be some narrative that the media needs to run with here so i get it.

Similar to his tumultuous year in San Antonio, Leonard has not spoke to the media regarding his contract with Jordan Brand nor his plans at the end of his deal later this year. Earlier this year, ESPN reported that talks between Leonard's camp and Jordan stalled. Under his current contract with the shoe company, he earns less than $500,000 per year in the endorsement deal.

djsunyc wrote:i personally think kawhi might be on the spectrum.

Very much agree. Despite his obvious talent how marketable is this guy? If he is "introverted" how does his team push the narrative for him to go Hollywood? He should take a pass on the sneaker deal and wait until next year.
I wonder how good a job Spurs did in insulating this kid for his and team benefit and perhaps his uncle feeling left out wanted control of him?
Toronto if they can get in his head and insulate him might have a chance to keep him.
Im just guessing here folks.
I know what I saw with Demarr and the raptors.

newyorknewyork wrote:Raptors made the trade so far without any agreements to an extension. These are principals that are worthy of having eye brows raised. As it could mean that Raptors traded away Poeltl, their 2019 first rounder, and Demar Derozan while getting no long term assets in return.

Now if Kwahi resigns its all moot. But trading away Derozan and assets without any assurances from Kwahi is noteworthy.

Raptors have Leonard's Bird Rights, which are quite valuable. The difference between a supermax from the Spurs and what max he could get leaving the Raptors without his Bird Rights in tow is staggering.

Cap flexibility used to be very prized in the league marketplace. Then progressive upticks in the cap plus a two/three year swing of a massive bump have gotten a lot of people taking cap flexibility for granted. Team killing contracts like John Wall is going to create a market shift eventually. Ujiri is getting out ahead of what is going to be a predictable trends in the marketplace.

Dumping DeRozan's contract is not a horrible thing. Short term it could hurt, long term though, the reasoning isn't totally horrible.

Ujiri is betting on having the Bird Rights as a leverage push to keep Leonard.

The Raptors really didn't give up all that much consider they got a Top 10 player in the deal.

newyorknewyork wrote:

djsunyc wrote:the media narrative (and expressed by some folks here) is that the raptors should be thanking their lucky stars an all star player likes to play for them. basically, settle for what you got b/c it's the best you're gonna get.

meanwhile, if you lose in the playoffs again, we reserve the right to criticize you any way we see fit.

raptors significantly upgraded their roster. there is no question about it - even IF kawhi is 60% the player he was prior to injury. every single one of demar's advanced metrics for the playoffs are just bad. not just this past season but his entire career. raptors won every single minute of the cavs series dd did not play. considering game 1 went to OT and game 3 was won on a buzzer beater - that really matters.

every single player's DRTG is worse when they're on the court with him. if that wasn't the case, he'd still be here and the raptors probably would have more playoff success.

this is simply a gm that was fed up with the playoffs sweeps and said it's not getting done and made two major moves. even lowry, imho, is not safe. i think the loyalty thing is way overblown. i think this was a major logistical situation since ujiri was in africa with obama building schools and stuff. making this deal from there and trying to get all ducks in a row was probably tough as hell.

with that said, it's a slow news cycle so there has to be some narrative that the media needs to run with here so i get it.

I mean, Kwahi def has the back story of him wanting to play in LA and refusing to resign with any other team. Raptors made the trade so far without any agreements to an extension. These are principals that are worthy of having eye brows raised. As it could mean that Raptors traded away Poeltl, their 2019 first rounder, and Demar Derozan while getting no long term assets in return.

Now if Kwahi resigns its all moot. But trading away Derozan and assets without any assurances from Kwahi is noteworthy.

Casey and Derozan have been fixtures in the Raptors stable success over the years though they couldn't get over the hump. Time will tell if they have been taken for granted due to them creating the raised expectations.

casey & derozan were great in the regular season but not very good in the playoffs. it's that simple. look at dd's stats - really bad - like not even average. and casey has simply been outcoached many times - by jkidd, erik spoelstra and randy wittman for pete's sake. and had to be told by his gm to change the offense. that's a bit embarrassing. and firing him right now was also the BEST financial move for casey - he got a $7 mil a year job now. coaches are in tough spots and it's all about timing for them to get another opportunity. even ujiri said he did it as soon as he did so case can look for other jobs.

let's say you host entertainment tonight all year long and do a really good job - then when the network calls and ask you to host the academy awards, you get on stage and say "goo goo ga ga"? what should the network do? ujiri gave both of them 3 years in a row to figure it out and they were not good enough. so instead of taking the easy way out and using the regular season as a reason to keep them around, he made the hard decision of using the playoffs as a reason to move them.

and can i repeat - we got kawhi leonard. there's no telling what can happen next summer. okc got paul george in house and convinced him to stay. that alone is reason enough to make this deal. if you don't trade for kawhi, toronto would NEVER be able to get kawhi.

finally the taken for granted makes ZERO sense. casey was given TWO extensions by ujiri. demar was given a $139 mil extension by ujiri. nobody was taken for granted. most coaches and playoff dud performers like that would've been traded after that sad wizards sweep in 2014.

wargames wrote:It was a good trade. Though the rumors the Celtics wanted to give the Spurs all their 1st picks makes me think the Spurs chose to send Kawhi to the frozen north a little bit out of spite. Continuing to run the treadmill with Derozan only comes off not as spiteful if you think they don't want to ask Pop to do a rebuild.

by all accounts, spurs wanted a real nba player in return. if boston wasn't offering irving, brown or tatum, then the toronto offer trumps bostons.

the kawhi/spurs falling out at to do with a misdiagnosis of his injury. helping kawhi's cause was danny green's recent statements that he had a tear in his groin that was also misdiagnosed by the spurs.