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Soul Bro

2020 Official Off-Season Thread

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3 hours ago, Soul Bro said:

Curious if we’d do a s-n-t for VanVleet like Indiana did for Brogdon. He can play the 1 or 2 and carries the culture we are trying to implement.

Watching the playoffs this year, I was thinking the same thing. But I wondered if VanVleet is an extension of the coaching staff since he's basically been with two coaches in the same system. 

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1 hour ago, The Buccaneer said:

I’d be okay with a Brogdon/Butler type move.... if we’ve “earned” those conversations. 

   I think we still have valuable contracts and players, it's entirely possible to see something happening. I would still like to see us as part of a bigger trade, so we actually get assets for helping. 

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On 9/15/2020 at 2:46 PM, The Neighborhood Bully said:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/5-questions-raptors-face-enter-2020-off-season/

Anunoby's contract could set the baseline for Isaac's negotiations

Excellent point. I can't wait to see what he signs. Very similar profile. I see 3 automatic rookie maxes from that class. Tatum,Mitchell and i guess Bam. 

I also think whatever Lonzo Ball gets paid will help us with Fultz. He just signed with Klutch Sports, i bet he signs the tender instead of an extension.

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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/9/17/21440004/bam-adebayo-block-miami-heat-boston-celtics

Read this article. Very good write up not just about Bam but what he does vs what other centers were doing these playoffs. 

This is why we should trade Bamba before he has no value left. Look what they said about Turner and Lopez. When people talk about Bamba they mention his size and length and his shot.He does have a sweet stroke for a guy his size. However this stretch 4 and stretch 5 stuff always dominates conversation these days. Yes shooting the 3 is important, but it's not the end all be all. Bamba is a center, he will never be a stretch 4 or anything like it.

To stick he needs to guard the paint and occasionally close out on a shooter. Yes he is a bit a physical freak but he doesn't move fast enough to be a guy like Bam. He is a traditional sized center who has to dominate around the rim. Yes having the skill to shoot the 3 is great, it draws the other teams big men away from the rim. His bread and butter has to be as a premier rim protector and screen setter, otherwise he will just be used in gimmick sets to shoot 3's. In other words he needs to show he is a good center next year before being a great shooter. If he can't do some of the basic big man stuff, setting the screen, rolling to the rim,good passing to a cutter he won't even get a chance to be a stretch 5.He will be a gimmick player like Speights.

 

Edit. i forgot to say that Lopez and Turner are pretty good players, even if they were marginalized in the article. Turner had a great second year, but has struggled a little lately. Lopez has been great for a few years but it took a long time for teams to use him correctly. Bamba might be as good as either one day i just think it will be a long term climb.

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I get the skepticism of Bamba when you look at guys like Bam and Theis playing center in the ECF. I'm hoping we drafted Bamba with a concrete plan in place development wise and that, that plan has just been hindered by his injury his rookie year and subsequently the weird season that just happened (plus contracting Covid) but with added weight now I'd be looking to see him play more minutes next season and doing things like setting screens, rebounding, protecting the rim, with the added bonus of a jumpshot. 

That jumpshot is never going to stretch the floor unless he hits a 40% clip. Every team is still going to give that up unless he becomes ultra efficient with it. But it can be a nice pressure release. Maybe they'll let him have it but if he makes a couple 3s a game it becomes easy points for us when we can't get anything else going. 

I think the ultimate upside for Bamba is Rudy Gobert who can hit an open jumper. I don't think it's supremely likely that he gets there right now (since we haven't seen a great deal of positive development yet) but I'm willing to give him year 3 to show he can improve because his time to develop has been so stop-start up until now with everything that's happened.

A good season for me would look something like: 70 games played, a handful of starts when Vuc is injured, 20 ish MPG with 8/8/2 (blocks not assists) on 50/37/70 shooting with maybe 2.5-3 3PA per game. 

If he could do that I'd be starting to feel really positive about him going into year 4. 

That's asking a lot though and I have no idea what to actually expect from him next season.

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I still had hopes in Bamba, but IMO he'll never have the defensive instict and motor that Gobert has.

So envious of the Heat. That proactive mentality I always talk about, and maximizing the value of your own players. At the end of the 2018/19 season, they were out of the playoffs, 3 games behind us (we were 7th) and probably with less assets than us, so in a worst position overall. And look at the difference now... it was only last summer, but seems a decade ago. :(

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I think what more than anything that Heat article highlights to me is that a middling team is only ever a couple of smart moves from being a contender.

Now sure we don't have Pat Riley pulling the strings nor do we have a championship winning future HOFer out there whispering into the ear of a star about to be a free agent. But our refusal to tank. Our trust in our roster. These are correct steps on the path to being a respected organisation. People hated giving Vuc that new contract and I get that. But how would it look to future free agents if we didn't resign our first All Star since Dwight off the back of our first playoff appearance since Dwight. Miami has a reputation from years and years of being a winning culture, we don't have that yet but we have to start somewhere. You can't admire that about Miami while simultaneously lament the fact that we've commited to trying to win. Sure it's only 2 8 seed playoff appearances but that's progress. Playoff appearances make us more attractive to free agents immediately.

Think about Toronto. 5 or 6 years ago nobody thought they were a model franchise. Since then they've won a championship, had a COTY and we hired their second in command. 

There's every chance 3 years from now we're exactly where we currently are. But maybe Chuma Okeke is a future all star, or maybe we draft a future all star this year, or maybe Fultz is that guy and Isaac gets healthy. 

Just because things don't seem hopeful at the moment doesn't mean hope isn't right around the corner. Things change fast in the NBA. 

...This post got a lot more 'motivational talk'-y than I intended...

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20 hours ago, Soul Bro said:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/zachlowe29895684/nba-playoffs-how-miami-heat-made-incredible-turnaround

Great article about Miami. Our team needs such a culture shift. Additionally, we’ve got to get much better at finding diamonds in the lottery and later.

Wrecking our culture was one of the main concerns I expressed when we decided to tank.  At the time, very few agreed with me.  They debated the idea that there was even such a thing as a “team culture”.  The argument was that if you draft a great player, you have instant culture.  Maybe that’s even true with a generational talent but as we have learned the hard way, they aren’t so easy to come by.  And if you don’t get one and you ruin the team competitiveness, there isn’t much left.  

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2 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

I think what more than anything that Heat article highlights to me is that a middling team is only ever a couple of smart moves from being a contender.....

What a terrific post!

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