Top 5 and we on the run - Official Offseason Raptors 2021 Season Thread
- Thread starter MikelArteta
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Dude looks like an absolute steal. His defence at the guard spot is top tier, he can shoot and seems to have insane basketball IQ.
Jalen Harris on the other hand does not look like an nba player off first look.
Raps gonna need to play small a lot this year. You can’t play Boucher starter minutes and Baynes looks like a very good backup pretending to be a starter. Len doesn’t look like an nba rotation player on a good team and is realistically still around cuz he’s tall, long and athletic but he’s fukking trash on offence...no skills whatsoever.
Also, OG looks a lot better now that he can dribble. I’d like to see him learn to shoot off the dribble in the midrange—a one or two dribble pull-up.
FVV looks like the same player as last year, not understanding when the play isn’t there under the basket. Maybe this is his peak?
Siakam’s shot mechanics are much improved. His shot release is way cleaner and he actually uses his legs in his shot now. His shot was flying straight, has good arc and landed softly in the rim even on misses. His makes we’re pretty. However, his foot placement is still weird. Otherwise he didn’t look great and not because he was missing but because he doesn’t read defences well enough to find scoring opportunities for himself. He did make a few good passes though and played really well defensively. All this said, his jumper may keep improving but I don’t think he has the instincts or mentality to be a superstar. He plays like he’s being sped up rather than with methodical patience. I hope he proves me wrong.
Matt Thomas was excellent. Boucher gave good minutes. Paul Watson’s D should get him in the floor. Yuta is surprisingly athletic and plays harder than anyone else on the team. The johnsons, Bembry and Ellenson are scrubs. Powell looks outta shape.
Team philosophy looked good once we locked in. I expect another 50 win season and a 3rd or 4th seed but will be a second round exit again.
All this based off one preseason game haha.
Also, OG looks a lot better now that he can dribble. I’d like to see him learn to shoot off the dribble in the midrange—a one or two dribble pull-up.
FVV looks like the same player as last year, not understanding when the play isn’t there under the basket. Maybe this is his peak?
Siakam’s shot mechanics are much improved. His shot release is way cleaner and he actually uses his legs in his shot now. His shot was flying straight, has good arc and landed softly in the rim even on misses. His makes we’re pretty. However, his foot placement is still weird. Otherwise he didn’t look great and not because he was missing but because he doesn’t read defences well enough to find scoring opportunities for himself. He did make a few good passes though and played really well defensively. All this said, his jumper may keep improving but I don’t think he has the instincts or mentality to be a superstar. He plays like he’s being sped up rather than with methodical patience. I hope he proves me wrong.
Matt Thomas was excellent. Boucher gave good minutes. Paul Watson’s D should get him in the floor. Yuta is surprisingly athletic and plays harder than anyone else on the team. The johnsons, Bembry and Ellenson are scrubs. Powell looks outta shape.
Team philosophy looked good once we locked in. I expect another 50 win season and a 3rd or 4th seed but will be a second round exit again.
All this based off one preseason game haha.
Bembry and SJ have guarantees thats what will sink Harris from even getting a shot...i still dont understand the Bembry signing.We have too many of these defense only wings,we didnt need another....
It makes no sense to play a guy like Bembry who has proven in his career that he is what he is, a fringe NBA guy who’s best quality is effort. You’re right, you need to at least give Jalen Harris a chance to play. I mean, he obviously is going to need lots of time in the G-League as he develops his body and court sense but I’d rather give Harris a shot than play Bembry who probably doesn’t get another nba contract.
Agreed. They're going to have go small out of necessity. Baynes has durability issues throughout his career, and it's going to take for him to get used to this team. Len looks even slower and earth bound than I remember though. He's just there. I wish they signed another athletic big instead.
At least Pascal's shot is falling. Let's hope the jumper keeps going on in.
Looks like Matt's ball handling and passing improved and he looks much improved on the defensive end. He had great chemistry with Malachi, who was fantastic.
I like Yuta and Paul Watson, they were excellent on D. It's a shame they won't be playing (Watson) or be on the main roster (Yuta) with guys like Stanley, McCaw and Bembry taking up space and making a combined $10 mil in salaries. Brissett is also making a guaranteed $300k so I doubt he'll be cut too. Masai's gotta stop giving guaranteed money to athletic defensive wings with limited skills. I get the gamble on these guys because the hope is that one of these guys can develop a jumper, but they're just awful offensively and they provide nothing. These little experiments have to end this year. I rather they keep developing guys in the G-League and bring them up because these redemption projects rarely work out.
I expect Norm to be traded this season to create cap room for next summer, so hopefully he plays well off the bench.
I can't believe Jalen Harris is listed at 6'5. He looks so small, and was comparable in size to Grant Riller on the Hornets who was measured at 6'1 barefoot. I expect him to be in the G-League bubble in Atlanta with O'Shea, Ellenson, Alize Johnson and Yuta once the G-League season starts in Atlanta.
i've always been a matt thomas fan and his defense is not as bad as people make it out to be.
Just let dude watch jj reddikk tapes every day and we are set
throw away season but ill watch every game still
Yeah Matt Thomas rarely gets blown by and cuts off the paint as a help defender. His issue is that he’s not strong comparable to lots of big nba wings but he actually does a decent job moving his feet. He needs more minutes to add dynamism to our offence.
Malachi Flynn is the future 
time to move on from fat kyle lowry after this year
time to move on from fat kyle lowry after this year
