The Raptors should be an example to us of how to build a better team

[Natebishop3]

A year ago they had the best record in the East. They had the coach of the year. They had one of the best backcourts in the league.

They were swept by the Cavs in the second round.

So what did they do? They fired their coach of the year. They took a massive risk and traded their All-Star guard for a guy who is going to be a free agent this summer. They shook things up.

They're now going to the NBA Finals and I think they have a very good chance to beat the Warriors.

They did the opposite of what this team continues to do, and they're reaping the rewards. But let's just climb right back onto that treadmill. Maybe things will be different next year. Maybe Terry will figure out how to beat the trap. Maybe we will learn how to defend the pick and roll. Maybe we will get a wing that doesn't completely suck. Maybe.... maybe....

 

[Pinwheel1]

A year ago they had the best record in the East. They had the coach of the year. They had one of the best backcourts in the league.

They were swept by the Cavs in the second round.

So what did they do? They fired their coach of the year. They took a massive risk and traded their All-Star guard for a guy who is going to be a free agent this summer. They shook things up.

They're now going to the NBA Finals and I think they have a very good chance to beat the Warriors.

They did the opposite of what this team continues to do, and they're reaping the rewards. But let's just climb right back onto that treadmill. Maybe things will be different next year. Maybe Terry will figure out how to beat the trap. Maybe we will learn how to defend the pick and roll. Maybe we will get a wing that doesn't completely suck. Maybe.... maybe....

You think if they were in the west the result would be the same? We will find out soon enough it they can beat the Warriors. GS will put Green on Kawhi. How does the rest of the team match up?

 

[trailblazer18]

LeBron left the East...

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

So if the Bucks had won, we should do what they did?

Or do we wait to see who wins the title and do whatever the winning team did?

 

[e_blazer]

Too soon. Let’s see how they do against the Warriors before we decide if they’re that much better than the Blazers. And let’s see if Leonard sticks this summer before we decide that this is team building and not just a one off.

 

[BonesJones]

LeBron left the East...

This Toronto team wouldve easily beat last years Cleveland team.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Fire Stotts and hire an unknown?
Trade Lillard for Davis?

 

[trailblazer18]

This Toronto team wouldve easily beat last years Cleveland team.

Possibly, but LeBron seemed to have their number, plus if for some reason LeBron was still on the Cavs, he would have pulled off some trades and it wouldn't have been the same Cavs team.

 

[BonesJones]

Possibly, but LeBron seemed to have their number, plus if for some reason LeBron was still on the Cavs, he would have pulled off some trades and it wouldn't have been the same Cavs team.

One name.

Kawhi.

 

[BonesJones]

Possibly, but LeBron seemed to have their number, plus if for some reason LeBron was still on the Cavs, he would have pulled off some trades and it wouldn't have been the same Cavs team.

With what assets?

 

[Natebishop3]

Fire Stotts and hire an unknown?
Trade Lillard for Davis?

Actually I would have loved to have traded CJ for Kawhi last summer....

 

[Natebishop3]

You think if they were in the west the result would be the same? We will find out soon enough it they can beat the Warriors. GS will put Green on Kawhi. How does the rest of the team match up?

Yes. And I think if we had traded CJ for Kawhi we would have beaten Golden State.

 

[trailblazer18]

With what assets?

No idea and not worth looking into because it didn't happen, but he always made trades.

 

[Natebishop3]

So if the Bucks had won, we should do what they did?

Or do we wait to see who wins the title and do whatever the winning team did?

Both of those teams have made significant trades and kept adjusting their team until they had great success. But specifically I think the parallel between our team and Toronto fits pretty well, no?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

With what assets?

Well who knows, but the Blazers managed to turn Nik Stauskus, Baldwin and 2nds into rotation players, so its possible they find a way.

 

[Natebishop3]

Well who knows, but the Blazers managed to turn Nik Stauskus, Baldwin and 2nds into rotation players, so its possible they find a way.

A rotation player that we could very likely not see on our team next year.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Yes. And I think if we had traded CJ for Kawhi we would have beaten Golden State.

No argument that Kawhi is better than CJ. He is a top 3 player in the league. But Pop was also pretty adamant about not trading him to a western conference team.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2018/06/1...ade-kawhi-leonard-to-western-conference-team/

 

[Natebishop3]

No argument that Kawhi is better than CJ. He is a top 3 player in the league. But Pop was also pretty adamant about not trading him to a western conference team.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2018/06/1...ade-kawhi-leonard-to-western-conference-team/

That may be so, and maybe we couldn't get Kawhi, but the risk that the Raptors took is really what I'm pointing to. Trading an established player who was happy in Toronto for a guy that very well might leave after this year (but probably not.)

 

[blazerkor]

We got swept out of the fucking Western Conference Finals. Making that playoff run without our second best player. We should try to keep things as close to the way they are as possible and run it back with a healthy Nurk. Don't get me wrong if NOLA wanted CJ for AD strait up I'd do it but outside of something ridiculous like that, I want to see what this team can do at full strength.

 

[OneSport3]

We got swept out of the fucking Western Conference Finals. Making that playoff run without our second best player. We should try to keep things as close to the way they are as possible and run it back with a healthy Nurk. Don't get me wrong if NOLA wanted CJ for AD strait up I'd do it but outside of something ridiculous like that, I want to see what this team can do at full strength.

I'd take CJ for Jrue Holiday, straight up.

 

[blazerkor]

Fire Stotts and hire an unknown?
Trade Lillard for Davis?

And don't forget to get Drake

 

[BonesJones]

No idea and not worth looking into because it didn't happen, but he always made trades.

They didn't have a pick until 2022. They had no young talent outside of Sexton. They couldn't have traded the 8th pick last year because they didn't have their 2019 1st (ATL), which is protected and rolled over to 2020 thus making it so they could only trade their 2022 & 2024 1sts and Sexton (who doesn't have much value). Hard to see how they would've improved.

 

[BonesJones]

Forget AD, I'd take CJ for Jrue Holiday, straight up.

In our one-on-one oriented system, that'd be a downgrade. With the way Stotts coaches, we need players who can create their own shots at a very high level. Jrue can do it on a high level, but not as well as C.J.

For a well coached team, Holiday would probably be an upgrade.

 

[BonesJones]

We got swept out of the fucking Western Conference Finals. Making that playoff run without our second best player. We should try to keep things as close to the way they are as possible and run it back with a healthy Nurk. Don't get me wrong if NOLA wanted CJ for AD strait up I'd do it but outside of something ridiculous like that, I want to see what this team can do at full strength.

We wouldn't have made the WCF without a flukey 28 point comeback by end of the bench guys. We would've been swept out of the WCSF, just like Toronto was the year before.

 

[blazerkor]

I'd take CJ for Jrue Holiday, straight up.

No thanks Holiday can't shoot like CJ.

 

[OneSport3]

No thanks Holiday can't shoot like CJ.

Our backcourt is horrendous defensively. CJ is a terrible defender. We are not going to get rid of Dame so CJ is expendable. Holiday was 2nd team All-Defense this year. Offensively, Holiday is not that much of a downgrade from CJ. But defensively, Holiday would be an astronomical upgrade from CJ.

In today's game where perimeter play is so dominant, you can't have a backcourt of CJ and Dame. Puts too much pressure on the team defense as a whole.

 

[blazerkor]

We wouldn't have made the WCF without a flukey 28 point comeback by end of the bench guys. We would've been swept out of the WCSF, just like Toronto was the year before.

Not swept out, we still would've taken it to game 7. Forgetting all of that, you're abdicating that we fire Stotts, hire an unknown and trade Dame for a possible rental?

 

[Strenuus]

Not swept out, we still would've taken it to game 7. Forgetting all of that, you're abdicating that we fire Stotts, hire an unknown and trade Dame for a possible rental?

Wut? How are we going to game 7 against gsw in the semi finals? Lol.

Anf why the hell am I even entertaining this hypothetical?

 

[BonesJones]

They turned DeMar Derozen, Jonas Valancuinas, Terrence Ross, Jakob Poeltl, three late firsts and a 2nd into:

Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka. Pascal Siakam. Danny Green, Fred VanVleet, and Norman Powell.

Talk about upgrading assets. My goodness. They're a perfect example of how to build a contender by upgrading assets, drafting well, and developing well.

 

[BonesJones]

Not swept out, we still would've taken it to game 7. Forgetting all of that, you're abdicating that we fire Stotts, hire an unknown and trade Dame for a possible rental?

What?

We would've taken Golden State to 7 games in the WCSF?

What?