Raptors off-season strategy

[barkleynash]

Assuming the raps get 50 plus wins and a top 3 seed in the playoffs and can get out of round 1, what do you think their off-season plan is going forward?

They have an excellent cap situation. Hayes is coming off the books as is fields, hands, sweet lou and amir. As well as stiesma.

Is this the summer we swing for the fences, or can we get a big name guy and then go for a bigger name the year after. We have 3 first rounders in the next two years, one this year and 2 next that could be trade bait.

[Qwyjibo]

The Raptors aren't going to sign any big stars in unrestricted free agency. Forget about it, it won't happen. There will always be a more desirable location with equal or more money to go to.

To get that last addition to creating a title contender, they'll need a trade. The obvious target will be Al Horford but that all depends on what kind of plan the Hawks management has for their future. I don't really know what to make of their roster/future prospects yet. Also, Terrence Ross needs to become good enough to be trade bait to reel that kind of a player in.

If not him, try to sign someone like Paul Millsap and hope to re-sign Amir Johnson at a reasonable price. It all depends on their prices but frontcourt depth will be a need.

[Dave3]

I really want Amir back, but I have a feeling we're going to really overpay for him. If we overpay, it'll definitely be bittersweet. As for FA signings, I really doubt we can actually sign a big name though, so I don't know what we'll be able to do. I feel like Masai might be able to pull something off, but for as long as free agents view Toronto as some barren snow wasteland, it'll be hard to attract people here.

[poido123]

The Raptors aren't going to sign any big stars in unrestricted free agency. Forget about it, it won't happen. There will always be a more desirable location with equal or more money to go to.

To get that last addition to creating a title contender, they'll need a trade. The obvious target will be Al Horford but that all depends on what kind of plan the Hawks management has for their future. I don't really know what to make of their roster/future prospects yet. Also, Terrence Ross needs to become good enough to be trade bait to reel that kind of a player in.

If not him, try to sign someone like Paul Millsap and hope to re-sign Amir Johnson at a reasonable price. It all depends on their prices but frontcourt depth will be a need.

Good post.

You probably take the worse case scenario when it comes to the Raptors which I find amusing, however I think Raptors are slowly changing that belief.

A good GM and a solid team who are winning a lot of games is attractive I would think for a potential free agent star.

Plus Toronto is a nice city from what I've heard.

[red1]

Can you believe that just a short while ago colangelo wanted to rebuild and trade lowry and also wanted to sign nash to a three year contract? Just thinking about that disgusts me.

[Finger Roll]

The Raptors aren't going to sign any big stars in unrestricted free agency. Forget about it, it won't happen. There will always be a more desirable location with equal or more money to go to.

To get that last addition to creating a title contender, they'll need a trade. The obvious target will be Al Horford but that all depends on what kind of plan the Hawks management has for their future. I don't really know what to make of their roster/future prospects yet. Also, Terrence Ross needs to become good enough to be trade bait to reel that kind of a player in.

If not him, try to sign someone like Paul Millsap and hope to re-sign Amir Johnson at a reasonable price. It all depends on their prices but frontcourt depth will be a need.

I honestly don't see any logical reason to get Horford or Millsap. Both guys are hardly players I see working in the raptors system or getting any better for that matter.

[poido123]

Can you believe that just a short while ago colangelo wanted to rebuild and trade lowry and also wanted to sign nash to a three year contract? Just thinking about that disgusts me.

Bargnani number 1 pick too. He is bad.

[SwishSquared]

The cap holds for FAs is 120% of their previous salary right? That gets them just ove ~$9M to spend, plus the room exception, if they renounce the rights to everybody but Amir (I think). They can then sign him afterwards.

I'm not sure what exactly they need. JV showing signs of being a proper rim protector would help them, but they might need more scoring from the starting frontcourt for sake of balance. Also gotta decide if Ross is the long-term starter at SF. I know Masai wants to stay flexible enough to potentially lure Durant to the T-Dot, but maybe they shouldn't plan like that. They could try to overpay somebody on a 1-year deal, then do the same with Johnson in order to keep space for the 2016 FA class.

I think we gotta see how this season pans out to figure out what some of their weaknesses are.

[Qwyjibo]

I honestly don't see any logical reason to get Horford or Millsap. Both guys are hardly players I see working in the raptors system or getting any better for that matter.

Al Horford doesn't need to get any better. He's an underrated beast. He just needs to stay healthy. In terms of style of play, he's like Amir Johnson but basically better at everything. IMO, he's the perfect fit at PF beside Valanciunas.

[Fire Colangelo]

Can you believe that just a short while ago colangelo wanted to rebuild and trade lowry and also wanted to sign nash to a three year contract? Just thinking about that disgusts me.

I'm just glad he's gone. The guy just had no idea how to build a team at all. Trying to force a soft no defense playing pasta eating ****** as our franchise player was honestly just messed up.

It's nothing short of amazing that Masai was able to turn the team around just 20 games into the season last year. We're in a good situation financially, and our core players are only going to improve from here on out, especially Ross and Val. Those guys are key to our success, if Ross can become anywhere close to a poor man's Paul George id be happy.

[Finger Roll]

Al Horford doesn't need to get any better. He's an underrated beast. He just needs to stay healthy. In terms of style of play, he's like Amir Johnson but basically better at everything. IMO, he's the perfect fit at PF beside Valanciunas.

Okay fair statement, I guess I'm just biased towards the hawks for some reason and wrote him off too quickly after injury.

He's easily better than Amir and could probably use a guy with a stable basketball IQ to play beside Jonas when he does his classic bite on ball fakes or stand like a tree with his arms up for 3 seconds after the play is past to avoid fouls.

[chocolatethunder]

The Raptors aren't going to sign any big stars in unrestricted free agency. Forget about it, it won't happen. There will always be a more desirable location with equal or more money to go to.

To get that last addition to creating a title contender, they'll need a trade. The obvious target will be Al Horford but that all depends on what kind of plan the Hawks management has for their future. I don't really know what to make of their roster/future prospects yet. Also, Terrence Ross needs to become good enough to be trade bait to reel that kind of a player in.

If not him, try to sign someone like Paul Millsap and hope to re-sign Amir Johnson at a reasonable price. It all depends on their prices but frontcourt depth will be a need.

It's a shame. I've traveled all over the world and I have to say, I really like Toronto. It's diverse culturally and really clean. I would rather live there than Miami or LA for sure. Most morons who have never traveled anywhere wouldn't see that but that's how I feel at least. It's a drag because Ujiri is a really good GM and I hope that they can build a really good team. I'm not a raps fan or anything, just a basketball fan and I like that city.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Marc Gasol.

[EricGordon23]

I say we go after Lamarcus Aldridge which is a long shot but who knows maybe masai can work his magic. IF that doesn't work out which it probably won't maybe we go for a guy like Monroe. Pick up a decent back up small forward in Jeff green

[No_Look604]

Al Horford doesn't need to get any better. He's an underrated beast. He just needs to stay healthy. In terms of style of play, he's like Amir Johnson but basically better at everything. IMO, he's the perfect fit at PF beside Valanciunas.

Your avatar is aging like a fine wine my friend. His name slipped my mind for a second. And for the record, coming from a long-time lurker, you are one of the better posters on these boards IMO. A lil' Canadian/Raptor bias on my part but at the same time you seem very knowledgeable and you never lower yourself or act petty/immature towards others.