Gulftown Enthusiast

Pistons are a clown franchise. Extending the guy who, as a 1 seed, fell down 3-1 against the 8 seed Magic who barely survived the play in, and had locker room issues and just fired their coach. And likely still win the series if Wagner doesn't get hurt.

@Anthonysmdoyle Quickley, Ingram and Gradey for Jamal Murray and Zeke Nnaji. Poeltl and this year's first for Myles Turner. So then you have a Murray/Barrett/Barnes/CMB/Turner starting 5. Still have Shead, Walter, Nnaji, Battle, Lawson off bench. Mamu too if he wants to re-sign for cheap

So ok, the easy point is "the Raptors need better center play". Heres the hard question: how do you get that? If you arent trading Scottie or CMB(And you shouldnt), where's the guy who interests other teams in trades to get big value?

@JustEsBaraheni 3 point shooting at that volume not sustainable at 38%, but everything else is. No reason for him to not be the true focal point of the offense next year.

Scottie Barnes in the first round: 24 PPG - 6 RPG - 8.6 APG - 1.1 SPG - 1.7 BPG - 38% 3-PT - 60.5% TS

@laboyzz @JosephCasciaro Don't think Webster is that big of a risk taker. MLSE is conservative - they likely run it back and bet on better health to see the team's true ceiling before making huge moves like that. But I overall agree BI, Poeltl and to a lesser extent, Quickley, are not part of the future

@CP_CSR @JosephCasciaro I think we’ve seen they’re better without BI. Need a real 5 and an upgrade at the 1 ideally. Lots of shooting.

Young Raps fought like hell to extend this series a lot longer than most ppl expected at full strength, let alone without IQ (& basically w/o BI). Took a really good Cavs team the distance. We learned a lot about these guys. Mostly good things, but also reminded of roster flaws

@JosephCasciaro Think they run it back and hope on internal development from young guys (CMB/Shead/Walter, maybe Battle/Lawson and maybe even Gradey). Draft a stretch 5 if possible with that 1st round pick. And pray everyone's healthy for another top 6 finish and hopefully a deeper playoff run

Surrounding Barnes and CMB with shooting is Priority 1, 2, & 3. See what Shead & Walter can turn into. Find a way to maximize RJ's positive attributes. IQ contract not great but not egregious (had a solid 2way szn when healthy). Jak contract & BI's ceiling make next step tough

@BlakeMurphyODC Good to know CMB, Walter and Shead are playoff risers. Poeltl and Mamu borderline unplayable. Jury still out on BI and Quickley. Focus clearly has to be at the 5 (who ideally can shoot) this offseason.

What a fun series. Raptors showed so much. Think you can be disappointed in the end (Barnes whistle, just too few guys left), worried about some future cap stuff, and still pretty excited at all the good stuff. A handful of big "stock up" guys.

@JustEsBaraheni horrific, horrific extension for Poeltl. They'll also need to be veeeery careful with how much they want to pay Mamu.

Unlike other young, spunky playoff teams, the Raptors aren’t working with a ton of flexibility money wise. They have picks but they have Jakob’s contract hamstringing them. They’re basically locked into this group. The salaries give them a chance to make a big splash. We’ll see

No IQ. Ingram misses time + struggles. Jakob was a shell of a player and you push the highest payroll in the NBA to 7 games. Scottie proved his playoff mettle as a superstar. RJ was overextended but showed his importance. CMB/Ja’Kobe/Shead proved they’re playoff ready. I think Darko also was great at pushing the right buttons in this series. A lot of great things to build on. Also a lot of questions on how to do it. It will be a fascinating summer.

@vivekmjacob 4. more. years. 🤢

Jak can you not jump?

@william_lou oh?

we're only down 5 threes

@Anthonysmdoyle Yup. Also really, really wish they didn't waste that 1st rounder on Thad Young. They're paying the price now.

@CP_CSR Showcases the difficulty in replacing centers.

It's really not as easy as you'd think. Center is a hard position to fill in the NBA!

@JLew1050 Horrific Poeltl game. Mamu has been almost unplayable all series long too. Raptors top priority this offseason has to be center help.

Jarrett Allen has 20 points and 15 rebounds through 3 quarters. He had a double-double (14 and 10) in the 3rd quarter alone. It took 6.5 games, but Cleveland is finally using its size advantage and the Raptors don't have an answer.

@william_lou man, I guess @steven_lebron really was right about Mamu. Brutal brutal series.

jakob and mamu just straight up unplayable. raps outside shooting absent. worked on the glass. IQ and Brandon not available. it cost them in the end.

hell of a ride. fought until the second half of game 7. there are some clear problems with the roster though and it's being exposed right now. cavs role players stepping up and killing us.

@JustEsBaraheni An actual center who can jump and ideally shoot the 3 should be priority #1, 2 3 4 and 5 this offseason. You can only play undersized for so long.

The Cavs bigs (especially Jarrett Allen) have finally weaponized their size in this series and it’s happening in the most crucial moment. The Raptors always had a disadvantage at that position in this series but it’s not even close right now.

@william_lou Mamu been unplayable all series long too.

we're getting killed by a center who can jump. imagine if we had that.

@lucarosano3 they need to get off his contract, but won't.

Raptors basically down 3 starters...IQ, Ingram and Poeltl has been non-existent

@Anthonysmdoyle It definitely is. Guys are out of gas. Shead, who I had hope for as the 3rd consistent scorer in this game is struggling with Tyson's length on him too.

Not to be that guy but this feels kinda over.

@vivekmjacob was my biggest worry, they were playing at a breakneck pace in the first 18-20 or so mins of the game.

It is now a 24-6 run for the Cavs dating back to the 5:30 mark of the second quarter. Missing open looks, Scottie doesn't seem to have much juice in his legs.

Think the Raptors run out of juice here and take the L. Every trip in the half court without Ingram and Quickley is a struggle.

@Anthonysmdoyle Definitely frustrating. At the same time I think there is very much a need for another shot creator as we're seeing the past 10/11 quarters. By the way I'm likely leaning 70/30 that this is another DeRozan situation and not just a 1-off because of the heel injury

@CP_CSR I just think that style of play, slowing everything down to self create constantly, grinds down in the playoffs and takes your teammates out of rhythm and isnt worth it unless you're super elite at it.

Ehh... Ingram was straight up bad all series. We shouldn't rewrite this.