When you consider that Pascal sunk his trade value when he said he wouldn't re-sign anywhere but Toronto, and was going to free agency the Pacers trade doesn't look to bad.
Really good episode. You are so good. Your analysis is unsurprisingly spot on. I think you nailed IQ in your take. Really the only Raptors podcaster who understands who he currently is, IMO. As a Knicks fan, I know his game well. He isn’t who others think Toronto got IMO. But, he’s a very good piece and fit for this team. I like Walter as well. I feel with BBQ he’s a better fit as a starter than Grady due to his defensive prowess. I love Grady, however. I think he’d be perfect as the 6th man when the team’s healthy. I feel he’ll be drowned in a lineup with BBQ. But, he can give almost All Star impact running the 2nd unit. Certainly 6MOY level impact. Like a Malik Monk, or IQ in NY. Without Scottie , Grady is needed as a starter over Walter. I understand your take on Shead. I do like the pressure he puts on the ball though, and force/energy he plays with for a rookie. Good end of the rotation player. I’m at the 40:49 mark, and I don’t recall you mentioning Battle. He’s a fantastic pickup by Masai, and brings a lot to the table as a shooter. I love Poetl and feel he’s been tremendous. This Raptor team is really fun to watch. I think they will be on the OKC, Hou, Orl trajectory very shortly once everyone’s healthy. As an aside I think if you had your own channel, you’d be at 12k subscribers in a month or so. You’re carrying this channel IMO. Not meant to shade anyone. You mentioned Battle after I posted, so I edited. Agreed lol.
The Jak trade is a D for reasons so many have already outlined countless times, the biggest one being costing yourself a shot at a generational prospect to extendthe life of a core that was never going to (at best) get passed the second round. The 47 win pace after the Jak trade is also kind of a misleading thing to bring up, the teams that beat in that stretch were pretty bad, some of the down the strectch were either tanking or resting players for the playoffs, though that didn't stop the Raptors from losing some of them. The Kings trade deserves an A, you got assets for nothing, the best one being Portlands second this year, at the time of the deal Davion was the second best asset, but now he's (at least to me) become third in terms of the assets. Davion has been fine, he's as described defending on ball, decent passer as well, everything else is well........not great, really bad shooting, somewhat foul prone, for being a decent passer he is fairly TO prone, not good at getting to the rim, and his defense off ball is pretty bad. I see him sticking around the league (probably not the Raptors) as a third string guard poa specialist, likely a minimum contract player, unless a team would give him a one plus one on the BAE to be used as salary filler.
Just to make a small correction on your analysis. It was "buying" Jakob vs. "selling" as everyone ( minus homers) wanted and the chance at Wemby. Oh yeah, that guy. Sothe correct grade is F-
Lol so its either making smart long term choices v swinging for the fences hoping you win the lottery? If we miss out on the first pick which is more likely than not we end up with a mediocre pick, a bunch of spare parts and draft picks and no real culture to build off of. Bottoming out and not paying attention to the makeup of the team and who is on the roster will result in situations like the hornets, wizards, or pelicans. Its easy to sit here as a fan and say well we should just dump the entire team except scottie and grab as many picks as possible, but that can backfire very easily.
Outside of the 1:1 value we gave up for Jakob, the decision to be buyers set back the team. 1. We committed ourselves to a core of expiring contracts, that demanded unsustainable, extensions. Leading to FVV leaving and PS getting sold on an expiring deal 2. Deciding to make a play-in push lowered our pick to 13. We made up for it by drafting well, but that doesn’t mean it was good at the time (like image if the magic took Gradey at 11) 3. We opted out of the 2024 draft. Even if we didn’t know we were going to rebuild, a lottery or a top 10 protection would’ve at least given us the option. We weren’t good and our timeline was centred around a young Scottie anyways. The rebuild seemed inevitable but we put it off.
One of the things I never understood about the Poeltl deal was not doing some version of it the summer prior instead of foolishly chasing KD. As a Raps fan myself, I would've been so much more forgiving if it happened then vs the deadline when there was a road to top 5-7 lottery odds
You summed it up pretty much perfectly, I will push back on point two though, yes they drafted Gradey and he's looked really good so far this season, but costing yourself a shot at a generational prospect to extend the life of a core that had zero chance of making it past, at best, the 2nd round is one of, it not the main reaaon the trade should be given a D grade and if someone else gave it an F grade, I wouldn't argue that either
I I highly value the Jakob trade. Young developing teams need high quality vets on and off the court, Yak does both. Yak allows the rest of the team to play the right way and develop in Darko's offence. The other 4 players on the floor would not develop like they are with Yak distributing, being unselfish and showing how to play basketball right. There is a statistically minimal probability keeping our pick and not having Yak could have turned out better. Fans who just blindly argue you can't trade a 1st rounder for a rebuilding team, lack the ability to analyze the context and reality. Yes, it's logical to highly value 1st round picks. But that doesn't mean it's better to keep a 1st round pick in all situations. When I hear a Rap's fan in 2024 trashing the Yak trade, for me it's a tell they have limited understanding and just follow superficial opinions.
@raptors republic trade rumors circulating, rockets want smart, but grizzlies need a 7 ft starting center. the grizzlies could trade for jakob poeltl for smart and a 1st and then the raptors could ship smart to rockets for another first.
@@gpww1 well consider the alternative, next season jakob is expiring with player option at end of 2026. so its two seconds for an expiring or you let jak go ufa and he leaves for nothing. he already said publicly he didnt leave spurs to come to another rebuilding situation. he wants to compete for championships now. and what is jak gonna get in a big raise in a new contract? jak has better stats than claxton making 28 million a year, hartenstein making 30 million a year, and ayton making 35 million a year. and there is a new cable tv contract kicking in the us. so jaks next contract is likely north of 30 million for 4 years. so masai has another fred vanvleet situation with jak right now. move him for max value now, or take two 2nds next year as an expiring, or let jak opt out and become ufa and lose him for nothing at the end of 2026 season.
@@gpww1 really depends also, hawks may want to upgrade on clint capella and trade him for jak and give the lakers or kings mid pick. then the raptors can let capella expire or try to get two 2nds for him as an expiring.
Jak: D+. because I think we could have signed him off season. If it could have been just 1 first then a C+ / B- Jak P sign B Darko coach: C both Kenny A or Ime Udoka would have been in B+ / A Fred: A at his price. Dalano D- , Jalen Mc sign F trade A. Dennis sign C+ trade D as we should have gotten at least 2 seconds since we waived their player and gave them salary relief for free. Jontay P 😂😂😂 OG trade if IQ becomes top 15 starting PG and is healthy for 85% of games and RJ stays as he is with 25% def growth next too years A PS for BB, OA, KO, JW, 2026 first. I would trade 26 into 25 draft this year to help rebuild. C + or Incomplete but did not want to pay PS so B- 24 draft B+ but still incomplete. GTJ for what he was asking A if he came back on $11 mil OK but this helps development. SB sign A- until I see him healthy 75+ games back to back years. 60 last year and around that this year. IQ B to incomplete needs to see more and become top 15 PG catch the value not make Allstar.
The Jakub trade is a complete disaster, especially because of the timing. They traded their first rounder for a win-now player and then transitioned to a rebuild just weeks later. It's like, the worst kind of mistake a manager can make. They should have traded for him during the previous summer instead of spending 3/4 of the season without a center, then finally admitting they need a center but after it was far too late. I still support Masai with the big picture, but that situation was fuckin' clown shoes.
proud of you! real intro with all the fixings!
love these and the new look.
I can't believe I ate the whole thing! That was fun.
When you consider that Pascal sunk his trade value when he said he wouldn't re-sign anywhere but Toronto, and was going to free agency the Pacers trade doesn't look to bad.
The Pacers 2026 frp looks better all the time!
Awesome mix of fun, positivity, jokes, and good, thoughtful analysis.
Shead was selected 45th. He's exceeding expectations imo
Really good episode. You are so good. Your analysis is unsurprisingly spot on. I think you nailed IQ in your take. Really the only Raptors podcaster who understands who he currently is, IMO. As a Knicks fan, I know his game well. He isn’t who others think Toronto got IMO. But, he’s a very good piece and fit for this team. I like Walter as well. I feel with BBQ he’s a better fit as a starter than Grady due to his defensive prowess. I love Grady, however. I think he’d be perfect as the 6th man when the team’s healthy. I feel he’ll be drowned in a lineup with BBQ. But, he can give almost All Star impact running the 2nd unit. Certainly 6MOY level impact. Like a Malik Monk, or IQ in NY. Without Scottie , Grady is needed as a starter over Walter. I understand your take on Shead. I do like the pressure he puts on the ball though, and force/energy he plays with for a rookie. Good end of the rotation player. I’m at the 40:49 mark, and I don’t recall you mentioning Battle. He’s a fantastic pickup by Masai, and brings a lot to the table as a shooter. I love Poetl and feel he’s been tremendous. This Raptor team is really fun to watch. I think they will be on the OKC, Hou, Orl trajectory very shortly once everyone’s healthy.
As an aside I think if you had your own channel, you’d be at 12k subscribers in a month or so. You’re carrying this channel IMO. Not meant to shade anyone.
You mentioned Battle after I posted, so I edited. Agreed lol.
Samson I miss your post game shows :(
Love your opinions, Samson
The T-Rex in the background art looks like Megatron from Beast Wars. Yessss
The Jak trade is a D for reasons so many have already outlined countless times, the biggest one being costing yourself a shot at a generational prospect to extendthe life of a core that was never going to (at best) get passed the second round. The 47 win pace after the Jak trade is also kind of a misleading thing to bring up, the teams that beat in that stretch were pretty bad, some of the down the strectch were either tanking or resting players for the playoffs, though that didn't stop the Raptors from losing some of them.
The Kings trade deserves an A, you got assets for nothing, the best one being Portlands second this year, at the time of the deal Davion was the second best asset, but now he's (at least to me) become third in terms of the assets. Davion has been fine, he's as described defending on ball, decent passer as well, everything else is well........not great, really bad shooting, somewhat foul prone, for being a decent passer he is fairly TO prone, not good at getting to the rim, and his defense off ball is pretty bad. I see him sticking around the league (probably not the Raptors) as a third string guard poa specialist, likely a minimum contract player, unless a team would give him a one plus one on the BAE to be used as salary filler.
Just to make a small correction on your analysis. It was "buying" Jakob vs. "selling" as everyone ( minus homers) wanted and the chance at Wemby. Oh yeah, that guy. Sothe correct grade is F-
Lol so its either making smart long term choices v swinging for the fences hoping you win the lottery? If we miss out on the first pick which is more likely than not we end up with a mediocre pick, a bunch of spare parts and draft picks and no real culture to build off of. Bottoming out and not paying attention to the makeup of the team and who is on the roster will result in situations like the hornets, wizards, or pelicans. Its easy to sit here as a fan and say well we should just dump the entire team except scottie and grab as many picks as possible, but that can backfire very easily.
^^^^ this. 2k brain has ruined teambuilding discourse
Wish we got nemhardt for pascal bro we just need team canada
Outside of the 1:1 value we gave up for Jakob, the decision to be buyers set back the team.
1. We committed ourselves to a core of expiring contracts, that demanded unsustainable, extensions. Leading to FVV leaving and PS getting sold on an expiring deal
2. Deciding to make a play-in push lowered our pick to 13. We made up for it by drafting well, but that doesn’t mean it was good at the time (like image if the magic took Gradey at 11)
3. We opted out of the 2024 draft. Even if we didn’t know we were going to rebuild, a lottery or a top 10 protection would’ve at least given us the option.
We weren’t good and our timeline was centred around a young Scottie anyways. The rebuild seemed inevitable but we put it off.
One of the things I never understood about the Poeltl deal was not doing some version of it the summer prior instead of foolishly chasing KD. As a Raps fan myself, I would've been so much more forgiving if it happened then vs the deadline when there was a road to top 5-7 lottery odds
You summed it up pretty much perfectly, I will push back on point two though, yes they drafted Gradey and he's looked really good so far this season, but costing yourself a shot at a generational prospect to extend the life of a core that had zero chance of making it past, at best, the 2nd round is one of, it not the main reaaon the trade should be given a D grade and if someone else gave it an F grade, I wouldn't argue that either
@@kickassproductions14 I think the process is an F, but the actual results may end up being much more meh than outright terrible
@@FootyInsights_ Costing yourself a chance at Wemby is much worse then simply meh.
I I highly value the Jakob trade. Young developing teams need high quality vets on and off the court, Yak does both. Yak allows the rest of the team to play the right way and develop in Darko's offence. The other 4 players on the floor would not develop like they are with Yak distributing, being unselfish and showing how to play basketball right.
There is a statistically minimal probability keeping our pick and not having Yak could have turned out better. Fans who just blindly argue you can't trade a 1st rounder for a rebuilding team, lack the ability to analyze the context and reality. Yes, it's logical to highly value 1st round picks. But that doesn't mean it's better to keep a 1st round pick in all situations. When I hear a Rap's fan in 2024 trashing the Yak trade, for me it's a tell they have limited understanding and just follow superficial opinions.
@raptors republic trade rumors circulating, rockets want smart, but grizzlies need a 7 ft starting center. the grizzlies could trade for jakob poeltl for smart and a 1st and then the raptors could ship smart to rockets for another first.
Then what? Get two players in the mid 20s-30s in the first round?
@@gpww1 well consider the alternative, next season jakob is expiring with player option at end of 2026. so its two seconds for an expiring or you let jak go ufa and he leaves for nothing. he already said publicly he didnt leave spurs to come to another rebuilding situation. he wants to compete for championships now. and what is jak gonna get in a big raise in a new contract? jak has better stats than claxton making 28 million a year, hartenstein making 30 million a year, and ayton making 35 million a year. and there is a new cable tv contract kicking in the us. so jaks next contract is likely north of 30 million for 4 years.
so masai has another fred vanvleet situation with jak right now. move him for max value now, or take two 2nds next year as an expiring, or let jak opt out and become ufa and lose him for nothing at the end of 2026 season.
@@gpww1 really depends also, hawks may want to upgrade on clint capella and trade him for jak and give the lakers or kings mid pick. then the raptors can let capella expire or try to get two 2nds for him as an expiring.
Only one good reason to go to the Midwest
Chicago? Weird
The worst movement is Scottie Barnes extension
Jak: D+. because I think we could have signed him off season. If it could have been just 1 first then a C+ / B- Jak P sign B
Darko coach: C both Kenny A or Ime Udoka would have been in B+ / A
Fred: A at his price. Dalano D- , Jalen Mc sign F trade A.
Dennis sign C+ trade D as we should have gotten at least 2 seconds since we waived their player and gave them salary relief for free.
Jontay P 😂😂😂
OG trade if IQ becomes top 15 starting PG and is healthy for 85% of games and RJ stays as he is with 25% def growth next too years A
PS for BB, OA, KO, JW, 2026 first. I would trade 26 into 25 draft this year to help rebuild. C + or Incomplete but did not want to pay PS so B-
24 draft B+ but still incomplete.
GTJ for what he was asking A if he came back on $11 mil OK but this helps development.
SB sign A- until I see him healthy 75+ games back to back years. 60 last year and around that this year.
IQ B to incomplete needs to see more and become top 15 PG catch the value not make Allstar.
The Jakub trade is a complete disaster, especially because of the timing. They traded their first rounder for a win-now player and then transitioned to a rebuild just weeks later. It's like, the worst kind of mistake a manager can make. They should have traded for him during the previous summer instead of spending 3/4 of the season without a center, then finally admitting they need a center but after it was far too late. I still support Masai with the big picture, but that situation was fuckin' clown shoes.