DDonkey
631 posts
As far as I’m concerned, this is the only real way to stop MORE teams from tanking.
Unflatten the odds.
Esfandiar Baraheni@JustEsBaraheni
The other solution to tanking is undoing the flattening of lottery odds to what it was before. There will still be a group of teams that still tank/lose but it’ll be less than it is now because fewer teams will think they have a chance + reduces how long a team is bad.
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@RaptorsShaq Option B doesnt necessarily do that. Since it involves 2 year record, a team like the Wizards or Jazz, who might try to win and end up as 9/10 seeds next year, can trade a somewhat more valuable 2027 pick this offseason or at the deadline because of how bad their 2026 record is.
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This is an excellent point, a bad team’s first will have similar value to a mid/fringe playoff team’s first so you are now devaluing a bad team’s best trade asset
If Washington wants to improve by trading a first they have to compete with someone like GSW being able to offer equal value
Sharyar Ali@AliSharyar888
@RaptorsShaq It also ruins the value of trading for firsts in a sense why would you do it now bc of the gamble
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@CoachroacheT In the most recent 905 game he was played off the floor after Yang Hansen started guarding him by standing in the paint ans clogging the lane while Fultz was beyond the 3pt line. So ya, its worse.
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Markelle Fultz can’t be this bad as a backup PG.
Shead nearly unplayable on offence
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@WolstatSun If the Pistons go 7-7, the Knicks would need to go 12-0 to pass them. Celtics would need to go 11-2. Even if the Pistons go 5-9 it would need to be 10-2 and 9-4, which is possible, but I'd still expect the Pistons to be the 1 seed.
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Wow. Celtics and Knicks now seem likely to earn East’s top two seeds. A Raptors Pistons series looking reasonably likely.
Shams Charania@ShamsCharania
Just in: Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung and is expected to miss an extended period of time, sources tell ESPN.
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Much better start and a better matchup for Jakob Poeltl today. Big part of this early lead.
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@JustEsBaraheni Isn't it better if the Magic win? Since the Raptors still have 2 games against the Heat they have more control over the Heat's record, plus the Raptors are up 2-0 in the head-to-head tiebreaker.
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Heat-Magic tonight is a big one for Raptors fans.
A loss by either is good, but you should be rooting for the Heat tonight
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@JustEsBaraheni I dont know how/why, but March Jalen Green is a top 10 player in the league every single year.
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@william_lou Are we sure he knows how to sprint? Maybe he just never learned?
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brandon playing with the urgency of a walk in the park. that's why he was blocked twice in a row there.
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@michaelgrange Why March 15th? The pro-rated minimum today would still keep them under the tax. Is the 15th when the pro-rated minimum keeps them under the tax if they make the conference finals and IQs incentive hits?
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Had thoughts re: Raptors 15th roster spot earlier (see ⬇️) ... In that light it's a 'little' interesting Raps 905 announced Markelle Fultz ... could be PG help for Gleague playoffs, or maybe a 'get-to-know-you?' ... Raps can't sign anyone until Mar. 15th.
Michael Grange@michaelgrange
A fun and refreshing detour to the mushy middle? … And in Three-point Grange, some thoughts on the Raptors 9th roster spot … and the 15th: sportsnet.ca/nba/article/lo…
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of course the easiest way to learn what to change with the personnel will be with a playoff series - but other teams will be watching too
Samson Folk (the coach)@samfolkk
I think I’ve seen enough of this team that I can’t lay any of the problems at the feet of Darko for the rotations I don’t know what lineup configurations would get them over the hump, but I think the key to this team improving w/o personnel change lies within 2-man actions
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@william_lou Darko's horrible rotations are a consistent factor in their failures against strong opponents. BI and Shead are playing horribly, so Darko put them out together without Scottie, RJ, or IQ and they predictably got killed.
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there is a different scapegoat in every loss but raps really need everyone to play a perfect game just to pull out one quality win. that's why they never do.
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the raptors are what they are. beat bad teams, fold against good teams. it's an improvement but there is absolutely no mystery to them.
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@william_lou When Jonathon Mogbo and Ja'Kobe Walter ask for a challenge, you just gotta do it.
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@RaptorsShaq I hope grok responded by informing him that you rose to twitter fame after forgiving Brandon Ingram for hitting you with a water bottle.
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@JustEsBaraheni Wesley Matthews 7 and a half month return remains undefeated as the most impressive. Tore it in March 11th and played opening day on October 28th.
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Will be a week short of 10 months since his surgery if Tatum does in fact return this Friday.
It’s not the first time someone has come back that early from an Achilles injury, but it’s been a WHILE.
Esfandiar Baraheni@JustEsBaraheni
This would be a remarkable turnaround. Dominique Wilkins returned from his ruptured Achilles in about 10 months. He went on to average 30, finish 5th in MVP voting and was an All-NBA guy. Tatum is entering his 10th month of rehab.
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@JustEsBaraheni If you want the ROY candidate, the 2017-18 Utah Jazz were 10th at 22-28 on Jan 31st, and finished tied for 4th at 48-34. 26-6 from Feb-Apr. Rookie Mitchell, 4th year Gobert, and he was older, but Ingles was technically in his 3rd year in the NBA XD.
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I’m trying to think of the last time somethings like this Hornets team happened.
Young team, crazy mid-season turnaround into a playoff team with a rookie of the year candidate?
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@william_lou Calling a timeout to prevent a turnover, directly into a 5 second violation and a wide open layup off the inbound. Disasterclass.
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There are 7 minutes left in the second quarter and the Raptors are down to 3 timeouts lmao
Knicks running away with it already
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@OrenWeisfeld This was posted about 1 month after Elon Heiled Trump. I think Scottie might be one of the few players on team USA actively wanting to go.
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Well said. Also, if you think about Vladdy or Scottie Barnes — two stars who have embraced Toronto and Canada at every turn — I just dont think this would happen with them
Toronto Star@TorontoStar
Auston Matthews made his choice, seemingly putting the party and the president ahead of the playoffs trib.al/ZeEONEZ
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