10-03-2023, 11:37 AM
(10-03-2023, 08:36 AM)omahen Wrote: I just don't get their strategy. I think Toronto missed their chance to get high reward for their (now) expiring guys. It is obvious that this group is not good enough to contend and they even lost VanVleet, so one could expect them to be even worse this season. They didn't make a splashy move that could turn their direction and put everyone in the right position. They have a bunch of long, athletic and switchable wings that should make for great defense, but they actually didn't. Offensively they obviously lack a top playmaker, better shooter or two could also help a lot. They did nothing to address those needs. They are basically facing a situation, where guys like Siakam and OG just walk in the summer to teams where they can contend, or Toronto will have to pay premium salaries to keep them - same group that is not good enough to contend. They were not prepared to pay premium for FVV...Maybe they saw FVV as a big part of the problem and decided to just let him go regardless of the contract he got? The ball does start with him most plays. When looking at the stats, there isn’t much change in his FGA (they were actually at a 3 year low last year) and his assists went up last year, so as far as counting stats go, he doesn’t look like the culprit. I didn’t watch really any Tor games last year, so I can’t comment on that.
The biggest change they made was a switch of FVV to Schroder. I have no love for Schroder so my take could be biased, but if selfishness is their problem, there’s no way Schroder helps that, but as GM, you get to talk to the FAs before they sign with you and if this was a good faith contract with the understanding that he change that identity then there are a few reasons to think he might. First being humbled by not being a starter (except on LAL) since leaving Atl could be reason to believe. I assume he will be the starter at this stop, but maybe that contingency is in place that if he is selfish he’ll not start anymore (who knows, but this all goes to Ujiri making the comment he made). I will say, I saw a lot of maturity in apologizing to Maxi after making the initial nasty comment about him not playing for the national team. Maybe he’s trying?
As far as addressing shooting, they did draft Dick. They then went back to their same archetype by signing McDaniels. Maybe a mid season trade is in the future for Siakam? If the team is looking the same as last year by mid season I can’t imagine them not shaking it up.
![[-]](https://www.mavsboard.com/images/collapse.png)