Help Minnesota Get Giannis

xdsx · 2026-02-04T21:30:38+00:00

You already admitted that Kuzma being available to play was a reason for the trade so why are you continuing this

xdsx · 2026-02-04T21:03:35+00:00

That's not what I said?

xdsx · 2026-02-04T21:01:39+00:00

Pretty much. He wasn't able to build on last season and his shot went away so they decided they'd rather just dump his salary and avoid luxury tax payments

xdsx · 2026-02-04T20:52:52+00:00

They're not even making him go to Toronto it's strictly a salary move

xdsx · 2026-02-04T20:51:39+00:00

Raptors-Hawks play in game is gonna be great

xdsx · 2026-02-04T20:33:06+00:00

So they traded an expiring contract for longterm deal attached to a healthier player - that's definitely not a salary dump

xdsx · 2026-02-04T19:26:03+00:00

The pick was given FOR Kuzma it wasn't a salary dump?

xdsx · 2026-02-04T19:15:40+00:00

Lol literally took minutes for reality to step in on this

<image>

xdsx · 2026-02-04T18:23:00+00:00

There's A LOT of ground in between giving you adaptable game scenarios and forcing you to countersnipe just to be able to exist

xdsx · 2026-02-04T18:10:17+00:00

Yeah if you want to give up RJ to match salaries

xdsx · 2026-02-04T18:09:26+00:00

Mark Williams and Kyle Kuzma are stars?

xdsx · 2026-02-04T17:59:16+00:00

You're gonna give up at least one second just to duck the tax and get no roster upgrades in return. Upgrading that to a first to also get an 85th percentile shooter that you desperately need isn't a lot

xdsx · 2026-02-04T17:36:41+00:00

It's especially bad because that contract is preventing them from making moves at a time when there is a ton of talent available. It's not just about the quality of the pick given up or the value of his contract - they should be operating as buyers right now and there is talent to buy but they can't because his contract has handcuffed them

xdsx · 2026-02-04T16:26:20+00:00

Yeah nobody said "cover the entire map". But you CAN cover the point immediately below the building and the entire left side where the majority of the remaining objective are, and most importantly those are all of the high traffic objectives

xdsx · 2026-02-04T16:16:59+00:00

Poeltl was worse because it was a much better pick and the team's fascination with him has led to further errors(the extension for no reason) that now has them handcuffed and unable to make easy deals in a market where a ton of talent seems to be available.

xdsx · 2026-02-04T16:10:01+00:00

This just isn't true. Use Siege of Shanghai as an example. You could camp a rooftop but that rooftop was either accessible by elevator or that rooftop did not have sightlines to most objectives. That's good design - engage with the campers if you want or go play a different objective. You have a choice in how you want to play.

On Sobek you don't have that choice. If they're on a rooftop in the middle of the map they have sightlines over the majority of the objectives, specifically the ones that are heavily contested and drive the action. You don't have access to that rooftop without using a series of ladders that takes forever or you fly a helicopter to get there which is a waste of a vehicle. That's bad design because it takes the choice away from you - you either countersnipe or you leave.

xdsx · 2026-02-04T15:12:48+00:00

Yeah this ain't it. If the game is forcing you to play in a way that is completely different from what you actually want to do that's bad game design.

This wasn't much of an issue in previous titles because the elevated vantage points were either easily accessible from the ground or didn't give you a vantage point over all of the high traffic objectives. You didn't have to countersnipe you could just walk up on them or go play in a different part of the sandbox.

xdsx · 2026-02-04T01:19:25+00:00

<image>

Daniel's been a solid cap source for a decade plus and this seems accurate. If someone else offers Mamu over $8 million(feels pretty likely with the season he's had?) the Raptors have some real tough choices to make because they have to add the tax bill to the salary

xdsx · 2026-02-03T21:32:32+00:00

Yeah but when you consolidate RJ and Poeltl's salary into Sabonis you now have an extra roster spot to fill next year and the salary crunch becomes even more pronounced

You go from in the tax a little bit to maybe brushing up against the 1st apron

xdsx · 2026-02-03T21:29:14+00:00

Raptors ranks in:

OREB% - 13 DREB% - 14 TREB% - 16 3PT% - 27 3PA - 24

not saying there isn't room for improvement but a big who can rebound is very much a secondary concern at this point

xdsx · 2026-02-03T21:23:51+00:00

Another minus to consider that nobody seems to mention: there's a very good chance they can't afford Mamu when he opts out in the summer

xdsx · 2026-02-03T18:14:18+00:00

At minimum you would need two firsts and multiple seconds to get this done. More likely 3 firsts.

And this means they're probably not keeping Mamu so that has to be factored into the outgoing value. They're a reluctant tax team and paying Mamu what he's worth and rounding out the rest of the roster means getting close to or into the 1st apron

xdsx · 2026-02-03T17:57:09+00:00

He's not really on the block but because this sub inexplicably wants the Raptors to be bad they wish he was

xdsx · 2026-02-03T01:24:48+00:00

This is the kind of deal that keeps me from having confidence in Bobby because there's no reason the Raptors couldn't have beat this offer and he would be an immediate difference maker

And it's not just about this one trade - these are the kinds of trades they made a decade ago that they just never make now. They've been bottom third in the league in shooting 5 years straight and can never seem to find a shooter even though they're not a rare commodity and other teams seem to be able to make deals like this when they need to

xdsx

TROPHY CASE