The biggest hit was the gamble for Giannis but I can’t really fault them for trying. If they didn’t, this entire sub would be giving them shit for not trying.
rtcaino
Not horrorible. Overall, has been keeping the powder dry.
This roster is like a Rubix* cube that is a few moves away.
That said, a few gambles kind of blew up in his face. – if he knew he had no shot at Giannis, he may have acted differently. – probably expected more for Lowry, and playing chicken didn’t yield fruit – this year has been quite unexpected, between overall injuries and regression across the board. I had us pegged to fight for top 6.
AngryHelicopter
A lot didn’t work out but was understandable. Even the Malachi pick, which was a huge costly miss, was during a weird season where their scouting and interview process was compromised. Picking Scottie over Suggs was a surprise but it looks like they got it right, I personally would have gotten it wrong. But the last trade deadline (and then this offseason) was a colossal disaster, they could only have fucked up worse if they tried. C+ at best.
Marauder91
The only moves I disagree with are the Malachi drafting and the size of Birch’s current contract.
With that being said, hindsight is 20/20 and no one gets the draft right everytime, and Bitch’s contract may have been out of necessity to have an experience NBA centre (not starter quality) on the roster.
Overall not a bad track record… But we are all looking at this during a very tumultuous season, so I could see some opinions going more negative on the grading here
Pleasant-Fault6825
If durant for s,
YoungSidd
Well they nailed the most important move by drafting Scottie with the 4th overall pick, which is huge.
The Norm-GTJ swap could also be a win, depending on how things play out with Gary this season/summer.
But otherwise, it’s been a fairly passive approach in relation to the moves that other young teams made and we’re seeing it play out now.
I’d give them a B overall — they’ve played it smart, but also very safe.
NoseBlind2
Flynn: C. I still think he is NBA caliber. But obviously he isn’t gonna be anything special.
Re-signed FVV: C+ (grade has lowered recently)
Let Serge walk in FA: D (i know injuries happened but his vet presence is valuable)
Extended Boucher: B+
Opening cap space for Giannis: A (its a gamble that would have been a genius move had it panned out)
Signing Baynes: D (didn’t pan out but we were happy enough with it at the time and imo given what we knew then not a terrible move)
Waiving Oshae: C- – this one stings since he got better after leaving
Trading Norm for Gary: A – i think it was worth it, Gary is really good and only 23
Matt Thomas and TD for 2RPs: A (seriously not a bad return for either guy)
Drafting Scottie: A+ – dude will be our franchise guy for years to come
S&T Kyle – B: Kyle was declining and Precious is promising. We were never gonna get full value out of Kyle. No regrets.
Extending Birch and GTJ: B – honestly no real feelings towards these moves. Khem probably a bit overpaid but nothing crazy either
Dragic and FRP for Thad and 2RP – B: again a decent return and at the time an ok move. That first would have been nice but at the same time Dragic needed to go.
Drafting Koloko: B+ – Too early to grade this one but overall the kid is promising. Sucks that Nembhard went one pick sooner but oh well.
Extending Boucher and Thad: C – obviously our season is in the shitter, but in hindsight we had 2 decent bench guys that deserved extensions and we had higher hopes for contributions.
Otto and Juancho signings: D for Otto, B+ for Juancho – obviously risks were involved signing injury prone Otto, but dude was legit made of glass. We knew this beforehand too. Juancho has exceeded expectations but it’s not anything to remark at either. Good on him for playing his role.
One you missed: letting Watanabe walk. This one stings more than Brisette and im giving it a D- as well
1DapperRaptor
Last year’s team gave hope of a play off push so they brought in Thad to help with win now vet pick up.
If Scottie didn’t get foot stomped and Gary wasn’t sick we could have (should have) best the 76ers.. so we ran it back.
Centers are not exactly easy to come by and just add to your team so we picked up a rookie and felt him out a bit and are working on developing him. They also tried to add shooting and vet IQ with Otto but that didn’t work out. (Not entirely management’s fault)
The problem with running it back is last year they overachieved and now they are regressing back to the average. They gave us every chance we could have to win last year and I believe they may have made a move again if we were winning now.
With the way this year is turning out there is a realization that this team isn’t going to win in the short window shared between the vets and the youth. And there is a lot of money needing to be spent to keep the team together.
Realistically I don’t want to over pay to have the same team get knocked out first round every year (I have the Leafs for that)
With that it’s time to get assets back from our older core. They were brought up and made into strong assets and we need to take advantage.
Not every year is going to be a banger of big moves. Sometimes you make small moves and feel them out. The feeling out is done and now it’s time for a banger. Do not judge management for the past few years… Judge them for what they do this trade deadline and off season
Cheechers23
The Giannis point – If Masai truly believed they even had a 5-10% chance at Giannis, it was the right thing to do. This sub goes on about how we need a superstar to contend and wants to tank to get that superstar. Tanking doesn’t guarantee that star. If Masai thought we could get one, taking the gamble to clear the space and let Serge go was the right thing to do.
Speaking of Serge, we technically offered him more for 1 year than he actually got (offered 1/14m, signed 2/19m). And with hindsight of the Tampa Tank (which was helped by no reliable big man till Birch) and Serge’s injury problems since, that turned out to be the right move regardless of Giannis lol
Mesozoic_Era
Also released Ish Wainwright, but overall probably a B. If given the same options and situation I doubt any other F.O could have done much better.
efficientshelter69
C-
Canadian__Bacon94
Ah yes the nephews of reddit out here grading how a NBA executive of the year and world champion forms his team
UncleNuks
I’m going C+ or B-…average, not bad, not great…they’ve been patient and have maintained flexibility which is good, but haven’t fixed a couple issues that have been lingering for a couple years now (although they tried)
mnana10
I disagree with the norm with opening up cap space being a good move. I think it was one of the worst moves in the post championship stretch. Why sacrifice competitiveness just for the hope that Giannis would come when you’re making yourself look weaker to Giannis because at that point the Bucks look better to him. Stay competitive, try to win and then in free agency make the pitch to Giannis and if he agrees, S&T. We legit just did it with Miami for Lowry.
johnscat
Ngl they could really use a guy like Terence Davis this season.
Maya-Inca-Boy
C-
Drakeishere_RUN
Imagine what this looks like in an alternate reality.
– The Raptors draft Desmond Bane
– The Raptors offer Serge Ibaka an extra year on the deal and retain him. (Becomes TO’s Haslem)
– Don’t sign Aron Baynes because they have Ibaka/Boucher
– Sign Oshae to a team friendly 3 year deal. He contributes off the bench.
– Still trade Norman for GTJ. That was a good move.
– Keep Terence Davis. Did he do something bad? Maybe. Is he a bucket off the bench? Yes.
– Hopefully still able to draft Scottie of course! In no universe do I want to lose that man.
– Trade Kyle Lowry earlier for more. I think we could have gotten Tyrese Maxey/Thybulle.
– Don’t extend Khem Birch. Get involved in the Harden trade, scooping up Jarrett Allen.
– Never have Goran Dragic in a Raptors uniform. Win.
– Still draft Koloko. Love that guy. Otto Porter and Juancho are cool too.
18 Comments
Overall a B-
The biggest hit was the gamble for Giannis but I can’t really fault them for trying. If they didn’t, this entire sub would be giving them shit for not trying.
Not horrorible. Overall, has been keeping the powder dry.
This roster is like a Rubix* cube that is a few moves away.
That said, a few gambles kind of blew up in his face.
– if he knew he had no shot at Giannis, he may have acted differently.
– probably expected more for Lowry, and playing chicken didn’t yield fruit
– this year has been quite unexpected, between overall injuries and regression across the board. I had us pegged to fight for top 6.
A lot didn’t work out but was understandable. Even the Malachi pick, which was a huge costly miss, was during a weird season where their scouting and interview process was compromised. Picking Scottie over Suggs was a surprise but it looks like they got it right, I personally would have gotten it wrong. But the last trade deadline (and then this offseason) was a colossal disaster, they could only have fucked up worse if they tried. C+ at best.
The only moves I disagree with are the Malachi drafting and the size of Birch’s current contract.
With that being said, hindsight is 20/20 and no one gets the draft right everytime, and Bitch’s contract may have been out of necessity to have an experience NBA centre (not starter quality) on the roster.
Overall not a bad track record… But we are all looking at this during a very tumultuous season, so I could see some opinions going more negative on the grading here
If durant for s,
Well they nailed the most important move by drafting Scottie with the 4th overall pick, which is huge.
The Norm-GTJ swap could also be a win, depending on how things play out with Gary this season/summer.
But otherwise, it’s been a fairly passive approach in relation to the moves that other young teams made and we’re seeing it play out now.
I’d give them a B overall — they’ve played it smart, but also very safe.
Flynn: C. I still think he is NBA caliber. But obviously he isn’t gonna be anything special.
Re-signed FVV: C+ (grade has lowered recently)
Let Serge walk in FA: D (i know injuries happened but his vet presence is valuable)
Extended Boucher: B+
Opening cap space for Giannis: A (its a gamble that would have been a genius move had it panned out)
Signing Baynes: D (didn’t pan out but we were happy enough with it at the time and imo given what we knew then not a terrible move)
Waiving Oshae: C- – this one stings since he got better after leaving
Trading Norm for Gary: A – i think it was worth it, Gary is really good and only 23
Matt Thomas and TD for 2RPs: A (seriously not a bad return for either guy)
Drafting Scottie: A+ – dude will be our franchise guy for years to come
S&T Kyle – B: Kyle was declining and Precious is promising. We were never gonna get full value out of Kyle. No regrets.
Extending Birch and GTJ: B – honestly no real feelings towards these moves. Khem probably a bit overpaid but nothing crazy either
Dragic and FRP for Thad and 2RP – B: again a decent return and at the time an ok move. That first would have been nice but at the same time Dragic needed to go.
Drafting Koloko: B+ – Too early to grade this one but overall the kid is promising. Sucks that Nembhard went one pick sooner but oh well.
Extending Boucher and Thad: C – obviously our season is in the shitter, but in hindsight we had 2 decent bench guys that deserved extensions and we had higher hopes for contributions.
Otto and Juancho signings: D for Otto, B+ for Juancho – obviously risks were involved signing injury prone Otto, but dude was legit made of glass. We knew this beforehand too. Juancho has exceeded expectations but it’s not anything to remark at either. Good on him for playing his role.
One you missed: letting Watanabe walk. This one stings more than Brisette and im giving it a D- as well
Last year’s team gave hope of a play off push so they brought in Thad to help with win now vet pick up.
If Scottie didn’t get foot stomped and Gary wasn’t sick we could have (should have) best the 76ers.. so we ran it back.
Centers are not exactly easy to come by and just add to your team so we picked up a rookie and felt him out a bit and are working on developing him. They also tried to add shooting and vet IQ with Otto but that didn’t work out. (Not entirely management’s fault)
The problem with running it back is last year they overachieved and now they are regressing back to the average. They gave us every chance we could have to win last year and I believe they may have made a move again if we were winning now.
With the way this year is turning out there is a realization that this team isn’t going to win in the short window shared between the vets and the youth. And there is a lot of money needing to be spent to keep the team together.
Realistically I don’t want to over pay to have the same team get knocked out first round every year (I have the Leafs for that)
With that it’s time to get assets back from our older core. They were brought up and made into strong assets and we need to take advantage.
Not every year is going to be a banger of big moves. Sometimes you make small moves and feel them out. The feeling out is done and now it’s time for a banger. Do not judge management for the past few years… Judge them for what they do this trade deadline and off season
The Giannis point – If Masai truly believed they even had a 5-10% chance at Giannis, it was the right thing to do. This sub goes on about how we need a superstar to contend and wants to tank to get that superstar. Tanking doesn’t guarantee that star. If Masai thought we could get one, taking the gamble to clear the space and let Serge go was the right thing to do.
Speaking of Serge, we technically offered him more for 1 year than he actually got (offered 1/14m, signed 2/19m). And with hindsight of the Tampa Tank (which was helped by no reliable big man till Birch) and Serge’s injury problems since, that turned out to be the right move regardless of Giannis lol
Also released Ish Wainwright, but overall probably a B. If given the same options and situation I doubt any other F.O could have done much better.
C-
Ah yes the nephews of reddit out here grading how a NBA executive of the year and world champion forms his team
I’m going C+ or B-…average, not bad, not great…they’ve been patient and have maintained flexibility which is good, but haven’t fixed a couple issues that have been lingering for a couple years now (although they tried)
I disagree with the norm with opening up cap space being a good move. I think it was one of the worst moves in the post championship stretch. Why sacrifice competitiveness just for the hope that Giannis would come when you’re making yourself look weaker to Giannis because at that point the Bucks look better to him. Stay competitive, try to win and then in free agency make the pitch to Giannis and if he agrees, S&T. We legit just did it with Miami for Lowry.
Ngl they could really use a guy like Terence Davis this season.
C-
Imagine what this looks like in an alternate reality.
– The Raptors draft Desmond Bane
– The Raptors offer Serge Ibaka an extra year on the deal and retain him. (Becomes TO’s Haslem)
– Don’t sign Aron Baynes because they have Ibaka/Boucher
– Sign Oshae to a team friendly 3 year deal. He contributes off the bench.
– Still trade Norman for GTJ. That was a good move.
– Keep Terence Davis. Did he do something bad? Maybe. Is he a bucket off the bench? Yes.
– Hopefully still able to draft Scottie of course! In no universe do I want to lose that man.
– Trade Kyle Lowry earlier for more. I think we could have gotten Tyrese Maxey/Thybulle.
– Don’t extend Khem Birch. Get involved in the Harden trade, scooping up Jarrett Allen.
– Never have Goran Dragic in a Raptors uniform. Win.
– Still draft Koloko. Love that guy. Otto Porter and Juancho are cool too.
FVV/Maxey/Davis
GTJ/Bane/Thybulle
OG/Barnes/Oshae
Boucher/Juancho/OPJ
Allen/Koloko/Ibaka
Front office getting soft