OT: The Official Toronto Raptors Thread

[MindzEye]

Elite traditional bigs would feast. It would be hard to hide them defensively against elite spacing and shooting clubs, but they would be buzz saws at the offensive end and rebounding vacuums. Within a few years teams in their conference would start changing roster composition (hack a shaq part 2).

Low post would probably return (a 6'9 230 pound quasi wing player isn't denying a big body deep position) for those specific players, yeah. Remember, those guys played a 2 man or triangle styled game previously as well. It wouldn't be hard to fit that type of centre into a modern offence, it's just that the "dunker" spot would become more of a feature than an afterthought. Space based offences don't care where they generate the mismatches and double teams, as long as they generate them (and move the ball efficiently to find the open man)

 

[zeke]

I legit think Shaq would get pnr'd off the court.

 

[MindzEye]

Lunacy

 

[Leafin']

Shaq would be a monster right now.

 

[zeke]

 

[Deckie007]

 

[zeke]

 

[zeke]

 

[MindzEye]

He's better than handful of that 20, fer sure.

 

[axlsalinger]

 

[zeke]

honestly i kinda want the celts to make this kind of deal for an old guy just when they were finally legitimately starting to put together a deep team.

KD could put them over the top but he's not a lock.

 

[Wayward DP]

honestly i kinda want the celts to make this kind of deal for an old guy just when they were finally legitimately starting to put together a deep team.

KD could put them over the top but he's not a lock.

the Celts scare me a lot right now.

if they added KD, but gutted their depth to do so, I don't know if that remains the case. would all depend on the return.

unfortunately, I rate Boston's FO >>> Brooklyn.

 

[MindzEye]

Celtics paying full KD rates would make me very happy. Short term pain for long term gain in Raptors land. Boston would be a problem for a year or two. After that...meh

 

[LeafOfFaith]

Whoever gets KD should probably anticipate a fair bit of injured time along the way. He's not exactly super durable.

So, gut your team and then have KD living in the hospital part time...there's a lot of risk there.

I won't be upset if we don't get him, but would just be optimistic about the best case if we do.

 

[LeafGm]

Another Raps title run in the near future would be great, but having to suddenly cheer for Durant would be super icky.

I think Boston making a bad trade for him would be a preferable option.

 

[MindzEye]

The rub with KD is going to be acquisition cost. I don't know of any of the teams rumored to be involved are actually deep enough to pay the asking price and still win.

 

[LeafOfFaith]

Acquisition cost is one, his health is another. You're definitely not paying the steep price and getting reasonable assurance of availability.

In all likelihood, whoever gets him will probably end up regretting it. If we get him, I'll push those thoughts to the side.

 

[MindzEye]

It's the NBA, only matters if you're healthy for the playoffs.

Depth is going to be a massive issue for whoever pays the cost to add him though. I'm expecting something like Brown, smart/timelord, Williams plus picks.

Even with the Brogdon add, that puts depth back in question for the Celtics.

 

[MindzEye]

A few things

1) The pick and roll was not invented in 2019. Coaches spent most of Shaq's career trying to isolate him in the 2 man game. We can show highlights of 31 yr old 330 pound shaq struggling with the coverage if we want to, sure. But there's no question that early to mid career Shaq would have struggled with it no more than any of the traditional bigs (that oddly, put up epic defensive value) do today. You're more than welcome to explain why Embiid or Jokic would be better than a 25 yr old Shaq (who was bigger and more athletic than either) at defending against modern PnR....but good luck.

2) Did you actually watch that video or just post it because of the title? Yeah, there's some bad Shaq D in there, but just scrubbing through, there's a lot of just bad Laker team D on display there.

3) I mean, sure you can use your 6'9 230 pound Christian Woods of the world as the roll man, but most coaches around the league are going to live with action and just play war of attrition on you by pounding the ball into the paint. You're going to be into your bench in a hurry if you're using an undersized big to guard Shaq. How many roll men do you have?

 

[zeke]

explain why Embiid or Jokic would be better than a 25 yr old Shaq (who was bigger and more athletic than either) at defending against modern PnR....but good luck.

either of them get out of the 2nd round yet or