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Post by wolfmannick on Dec 20, 2020 12:18:33 GMT -6
Giannis Antekompo of the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to a 5 year $228M extension with an opt out after year 4. With the last year of his 2nd contract still on the books the Bucks have control over him for 5 more years. Other than Damien Lillard of Portland, Giannis is the 2nd star since Lebron did his super team thing/creation to sign a 3rd contract with a small/foreign market. So much for the Raptors team president having an in with him and getting him to come to Toronto. To be honest I kind of wish he went to Dallas or Miami so it would have caused a labor stoppage in a few years so this problem could get fixed. Him leaving Milwaukee would have been the final straw. Raptors made a mistake losing Ibaka to keep the cap room for him. Best options for the Raptors other than a new/more fair system would be to just keep collecting assets and hope to trade those for 1-2 year rentals ala Kawhi. I'm wondering what their new plan will be. Tank for a few years and try to get a lottery pick? Siakim is a good #2 guy but I dont think he can handle the pressure of being a #1 not do I think hell be a top 5 player.
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 21, 2020 22:06:01 GMT -6
Giannis Antekompo of the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to a 5 year $228M extension with an opt out after year 4. With the last year of his 2nd contract still on the books the Bucks have control over him for 5 more years. Other than Damien Lillard of Portland, Giannis is the 2nd star since Lebron did his super team thing/creation to sign a 3rd contract with a small/foreign market. So much for the Raptors team president having an in with him and getting him to come to Toronto. To be honest I kind of wish he went to Dallas or Miami so it would have caused a labor stoppage in a few years so this problem could get fixed. Him leaving Milwaukee would have been the final straw. Raptors made a mistake losing Ibaka to keep the cap room for him. Best options for the Raptors other than a new/more fair system would be to just keep collecting assets and hope to trade those for 1-2 year rentals ala Kawhi. I'm wondering what their new plan will be. Tank for a few years and try to get a lottery pick? Siakim is a good #2 guy but I dont think he can handle the pressure of being a #1 not do I think hell be a top 5 player. The Raptors have too much talent to tank with Siakim, Van Vleet, Anunoby and Lowry for another year. I think the plan is too keep collecting talent and hope for another Kawhi situation where you send a bunch of 2nd tier players for a 1-2 year rental. I agree on Siakim. He's a number 2. Not enough skill or size to be a number 1. They should still keep him though, he's under contract another 4 years and it's not like players are rushing to sign with the Raptors.
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 21, 2020 22:09:29 GMT -6
OG Anunoby on the last day of the deadline for extensions has signed a 4 year $72M extension with a player opt out after year 4. He has 1 year of his rookie deal left so he's under contract for 4 years along with Siakim, VanVleet with his opt out is under contract for 3 years. Great signing for the Raptors. He's a great defender and good 3 pt shooter. I wouldn't be surprised if his average went up from 10pts per game to around 12-14. Ballhanding sucks though.
Along with Giannis, Rudy Gobert signed an extension with Utah. Most of next years free agent list signed extensions other than Kawhi Leonard, Jrue Holliday and Victor Olidipo so there was no reason to save the cap room and sign Anunoby next year.
Really sound like they will trade Norman Powell during the season since he has 1 year left on his deal but I'd make him part of the core with the other 3. He's only 27 and averaged 16pts per game on great shooting % numbers last year.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 3, 2021 8:32:33 GMT -6
Fred Van Vleet broke the Raptors scoring record for a single game with 54 points beating DeMar DeRozan's 52 points. He also broke the record for an undrafted player in a game. Hall of famer Moses Malone had that record with 53 points.
He went 17-23 from the field, 11-14 from 3 and 9 for 9 from the line in the Raptors victory over Orlando.
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Post by ekjet72 on Feb 3, 2021 10:19:38 GMT -6
Mike its good to see a Dutchman do well, even if he misspells his name! I remember his Wichita Shockers team and their run in the NCAAs back in 2013&14. Amazing story of perseverance. Good on him!
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 19, 2021 10:45:07 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Mar 26, 2021 5:52:03 GMT -6
The Raptors have traded Norman Powell who was averaging a career high 19+ pts per game to Portland for Gary Trent Jr. The reason is Trent has improved from 2pts, to 8pts, to 15pts per game this year and he is a better defender who will be cheaper to resign as a restricted free agent. He was also have a small cap hold so the Raptors have more room for free agency(though I'm not sure that is such a benefit given not many want to play for the Raptors plus a weak free agent class).
Terrance Davis has been traded to Sacramento for a 2nd round pick. He wasn't the same since the bubble and getting in trouble for domestic violence last summer. Nick Nurse tired of his act and mistakes on defense.
Matt Thomas was traded to Utah for a 2nd round pick. Thomas is a great 3 pt shooter but almost unplayable because he's so bad on d.
Not sure what to make of the Powell trade. He's better than Trent but will be $5-10M more expensive plus he will be 28 in may. It's sad the Raptors lose another championship Raptor who is having a career year.
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Post by mikecubs on Jul 16, 2021 5:18:07 GMT -6
Kawhi Leonard has undergone surgery for a partially torn ACL in his right knee. He missed the Clippers last 8 playoff games. The Clippers lost 4-2 to the Phoenix Suns in their 1st ever Western Conference finals appearance. The Clippers according to rumor diagnosed it as a bruise. Leonard saw his own doctors and they found the tear. The Clippers said there is no timetable for his return but Clippers fans online say a partial tear requires the same repair as a full tear and that he is out 9 months. They think he won't risk coming back for the playoffs and just rehab the year. If he missed the year he will return at 31 years old the next year coming off a torn ACL in his right knee to go with a degenerative left knee. The Clippers basically gave away their next 10 drafts to the Oklahoma City Thunder to get Paul George so Leonard would sign with them. They have a 2nd round exit and 3rd round exit this year and still no titles. OUCH!!!
Former Raptor Serge Ibaka who also signed with the Clippers has undergone back surgery. He missed 30 regular season games with the injury returned for 2 regular season games and the 1st 2 playoff games then was done for the season. He will be 32 years old next year. I bet his stats will cut in half after the injury, he has a lot of miles on him and will be coming off back surgery. Raptors made the right decision to let him go after all.
Pascal Siakim who missed the end of the season and 16 of 72 games this year has undergone surgery for a torn left labrum in his shoulder. He is out 5 months. He should be ready early November.
Danny Green who is now with Philadelphia missed the last few games against Atlanta in the second round with a right calf strain. He would have missed 2-3 weeks if the 76ers kept going(Atlanta beat them). He turns 34 next season.
Kyle Lowry also missed 26 of 72 games this year with injury(toe infection). He will be a free agent. I think he will go to Miami or Philadelphia.
This season Marc Gasol was awful with the Lakers and was replace and Andre Drummond to end the season as a starter and fell out of the rotation at the end of the year behind Montrez Harrell. He's 36 and should quit after playing in the Olympics with his brother for Spain.
The Raptors overall went 27-45 playing the entire season in Tampa Bay finishing 11th in the east(out of the playoffs). They did beat the lottery odds and get the 4th pick in a deep draft.
The 2019 Raptors had one last run in them if they stayed together(Kawhi stayed) though I don't think they would have won. Gasol declined last year, most of them got hurt this year. It would have been even worst this season probably because they would have made a deeper run last year giving them less recovery time. Miami and the Lakers were out round 1 this year because there was only a 2 month rest before this season started.Lebron and Anthony Davis got hurt along with most of the star players in the league this year. The players and owners wanted 72 games because they wanted the TV money.
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Post by ekjet72 on Jul 16, 2021 11:26:59 GMT -6
No player is worth what the clippers paid to land Kawhi. It shows you're only an injury away from a terrible decision and given his problems in his other knee I would think most sport medicine guys would say he is damaged goods and will get problems elsewhere. Plus he was relatively speaking, old when they signed him up. It is a darned if you do damned if you don't scenario for any team and a star player factoring age, injuries and fans. As an aside 6 players in the CFL tore Achilles tendons in the first week of light training. Saskatchewan lost 4 on the same drill in one hour. All thought to be due to players being one year older and 18 months without strenuous exercise. Our first game in Calgary is Aug 7. Not much time to sort out the wheat from the chaff and the hale from the potentially sickly and injured. Apparently 10 players are COVID positive, just reported today! Going to be an interesting start.
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Post by mikecubs on Jul 17, 2021 7:36:43 GMT -6
No player is worth what the clippers paid to land Kawhi. It shows you're only an injury away from a terrible decision and given his problems in his other knee I would think most sport medicine guys would say he is damaged goods and will get problems elsewhere. Plus he was relatively speaking, old when they signed him up. It is a darned if you do damned if you don't scenario for any team and a star player factoring age, injuries and fans. As an aside 6 players in the CFL tore Achilles tendons in the first week of light training. Saskatchewan lost 4 on the same drill in one hour. All thought to be due to players being one year older and 18 months without strenuous exercise. Our first game in Calgary is Aug 7. Not much time to sort out the wheat from the chaff and the hale from the potentially sickly and injured. Apparently 10 players are COVID positive, just reported today! Going to be an interesting start. He was only 28 when they signed him. NBA superstars usually make it ok to 35. His problem is/was he is much older than his chronological age given his injury history. I could see a desperate small market that no one wants to play in taking this kind of risk but not an LA team. NBA players literally worship LA. They could have kept the picks and signed other stars in future years.
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Post by mikecubs on Sept 14, 2021 8:17:24 GMT -6
Marc Gasol has been traded back to his long time original team the Memphis Grizzlies and has been waived so he can both finish his NBA career with the Grizzlies and then sign with a 2nd division Spanish league club that he owns and has once played for. nba.nbcsports.com/2021/09/12/marc-gasol-to-stay-in-spain-reportedly-finish-out-career-with-girona/It was time. He only averaged 5 points per game last year. His last good year was the 2019 title year with the Raptors. The Raptors wouldn't have gotten past round 2 that year against Philadelphia and Joel Embidd without his excellent textbook defensive work against him.
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 5, 2022 8:23:11 GMT -6
Portland has traded Norman Powell to the LA Clippers to join Kawahi Leonard and Serge Ibaka. Portland really didn't get anything in return they just wanted the cap room and to get rid of his 5 year $90M contract.
In other news Fred Van Vleet made his 1st all star team.
Also the Clippers coach announced that it is unlikely Kawahi Leonard will play this season.
Currently the Raptors are 28-23 this season. Scottie Barnes the number 4 pick in the draft has been the 2nd best rookie in the league next to Cleveland's Evan Mobley.
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 16, 2022 10:34:57 GMT -6
It turns out Kawhi Leonard has missed the entire year with his torn acl. The Clippers finished 42-40 finishing in 8th place in the west. In the play in tournament they lost to number 7 seed Minnesota then lost to number 9 seed New Orleans last night at home eliminating them. Oklahoma City gets a lottery pick!!!
There are rumors the Clippers are mad at Leonard and thought he could have played.
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Post by ekjet72 on Apr 16, 2022 11:33:06 GMT -6
20/20 vision; Raps were lucky. Imagine if he would have signed with them. He was always a flighty character. He was a perfect "rental" for TO.
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Post by mikecubs on May 13, 2022 15:22:43 GMT -6
Former championship Raptor Danny Green now with the Philadelphia 76ers suffered a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee as teammate Joel Embid fell on him. He turns 35 this summer and has a non guaranteed $10M contract. That could be it for him. The 76ers were eliminated in 6 games by Miami to add insult to injury.
Kyle Lowry now of Miami has also missed most of the playoffs with an injured left hamstring at 36 years old
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