Where Do We Go From Here?

[blackice]

Coming off a season where our Raptors made the playoffs, finishing just above Cleveland and Washington, and making a strong showing in a eventual loss to the Miami Heat in the first round, things were looking up. The offseason saw very little roster turnover, a planned trade for Jaylen Hoard took longer then expected but eventually was made with the departure of NAW/Mobley/MIA '1st/5 player instructions. Jaylen Hoard, 25 years old, looks to be an elite defender with high disciple and gives us a little more offensive and rebounding then Herbert Jones who has moved to the bench.

At first glance this looks to be a solid roster:

Nassir Little/Tre Jones
Hamidou Diallo/Herbert Jones
Jaylen Hoard/Elijah Hughes/Vic Law
Justin Patton/Pascal Siakam/Gorjok Gak
Michael Young/Thomas Welsh/Kai Jones

Given the teams propensity for slow starts, there is still time for a turn around but currently sitting at 8-16, the rebuild planned starting next season seems to have started already, which wasn't our intention. This is a team that struggles to space the floor, and Justin Patton & Hamidou Diallo have had to carry our offense game after game. The teams defense is still elite and there is a lot of quality on the roster but without our 1st this season trading vets for rebuilding pieces doesn't make sense. We do know that this offseason will see roster turnover, and we could see everyone go and then we could potentially tank for a top 5 pick. It has been a decade plus since a proper rebuild, and that was under a different GM and we know our perimeter in particularly, will garner interest. Justin Patton and Michael Young are solid vets who should net a decent return, 31 & 32 years of age which could turn a playoff team into a contender.

Note: It has been announced that a minor trade is coming soon, which might help us turn this team around and give us a scoring big.

What do you all think? Is this simply a matter of playing out the season and reassessing this offseason? Playing with different strats? Push in and make a big trade to get this team back on track?

One thing we do know, is only our 1st rounders are safe...

[Andrewu91]

Time to rebuild.

Better late than never.

[emplep7]

If it were me I would look to offload as much as possible and turn the roster over completely in the next couple years. Go back to the old BI who would go through players every few months. I still remember some of the crazy roster overhauls you did while with the Clips. It was impressive.

[rh0xxy]

Yeah from the looks of it, maybe it's time to rebuild or retool. There's a lot of time to turn things around but probably not with this group this time, but who knows...

[Jestor]

I honestly wouldn’t wait until the offseason. You lose value on Patton and Young the longer you wait, and Diallo goes for nothing in the offseason.

Being concerned about not having your pick is a sunk cost fallacy. Start the rebuild now. I don’t see a path to getting to the playoffs for you this season. Not to mention, you’re really close to the hard cap.

[Stockton12]

rebuild ..your team is getting to old and u lack cap spcae

[Flaming Homer]

If you get a really good offer on one of the current core players, it could make sense to start the rebuild a bit earlier.
That return may be not there in the offseason anymore.

If not, I would stick to the plan and play this season out. As you said, the Raptors were know for getting into a rhythm late in the season and hopefully they can find it again and make up some ground. The talent is there and other teams showed that you can make do without a lot of outside shooting. The bench is a bit thin, so injuries always may play a role here.