This is very crafty...

[00:00:00]This is remarkably crafty. As the Toronto Raptors, assuming the Kawhi Leonard trade goes down, is now handcuffed financially in terms of the different moves that they are able to make. And they have some serious opportunities on the horizon. But right now, we have some insights, we have some developments in terms of the issues the Toronto Raptors are facing, and some solutions that the Bobby Webster and the Raptors front office are able to cook up to really make all the moves that we are really interested in Toronto Raptors fans. Because right now, if we are looking to be competitive we are trying to be championship contenders this season. And the injuries we've been facing over the past couple years, this team needs some proper depth, and they need a lot of guys that are going to be able to play actual minutes, especially if Kawhi Leonard is going to be suspended for a stretch of the upcoming year. So, we'll break down all the latest updates in terms of what Bobby Webster, what this front office is currently doing to navigate this cap crunch, and what they've been positioning this team to be able to do.

[00:00:56]Again, until we get some insight in the Kawhi Leonard trade, until we get some insight in heck to LeBron James scenario, where the heck he's going to go, what opportunities that will lead you dominoes for the Raptors to be able to pick up. Until we have that, nothing's going to be official. But we see the crafty moves Bobby Webster in the front office are currently doing, and we'll dive straight into it. But before we do, appreciate every single one of you. We are currently on the road to 44,000 subscribers right now.

[00:01:19]Marching along, humming along over the course of the off season. So, I appreciate every single one of you that's tuned into the vids daily, and I don't want you to miss a single thing.

[00:01:25]So, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button. But let's dive into it. Because Michael Grange gave some interesting insights and develop insights in terms of what is going on with this team. So, let's take a look.

[00:01:36]Basically, he came out and talked about Nate Bittles first, saying the Raptors have already signed Nate Bittles to an exhibit 10 contract, which gives Bittles a $75,000 bonus for attending training camp and staying with the Raptors 905 if he doesn't make the main roster. But it also opens up the door of converting him to a two-way deal before that. A move the Raptors are certainly considering.

[00:01:57]So, we knew this exhibit 10 contract was there. We knew Nate Bittle was going to be a guy that's going to be entering training camp. This is not any novel insights, but we do get confirmation the Raptors are considering giving Nate Bittle a two-way contract already.

[00:02:10]Converting this to figure out the cap situation for everything that's going on. And there were some interesting quotes before we dive into all the, you know, bigger implications of the Toronto Raptors, the DeMar DeRozan situation. It is interesting to note that Nate Bittle chose the Toronto Raptors as it was interesting to learn that he targeted the Toronto Raptors as an organization as he felt it provided a meaningful path to earning an NBA job. And of course, he can read the depth chart. We did have some quotes from Nate Bittle himself talking about, you know, the opportunity of joining the Toronto Raptors and everything like that. As he said, "Me and my agent, my parents, we had that talk and after being undrafted free agent and thought this was a great fit for me. And when I went up there, had a little mini camp with them before Summer League. And you know, went on to say that came out here, had a couple practices and then now we're playing. I think everything is going good. I've just got to stay true to myself and my game. Being able to block shots, space the floor offensively, and set some good screens to get guys open. That's something that they needed and we looked at it and there's just an opportunity there for me. I just want to go out and make the most of the opportunities that I get. So, Nate Bittle targeted the Toronto Raptors. He was eager to join the Toronto Raptors obviously due to the positional fit, but also the organization and everything that's going on. So, it's nice to see, you know, a guy coming in out there as an undrafted free agent and you know, looking to eagerly be a part of this team. And he played very well out there over the course of Summer League. Nate Bittle and you know, we lost Jamari Sharp, but Nate Bittle was the starter, clearly the more polished player out there in these games. Nate Bittle 20 minutes per night, average 10 points per game, ended up blocking what? 2.8 shots per night.

[00:03:43]Yeah, 2.8 shots blocks per game. You know, 6.8 rebounds. He was really good.

[00:03:48]Spacing the floor, knocking down threes, you know, hit two threes a game at 44% in four games of action. Nate Bjorkgren definitely, uh you know, earned his spot even though he was already given the exhibit 10 contract right before. But, why is this important? Why are we talking about Nate Bjorkgren? Why are we talking about this roster situation?

[00:04:03]Well, let's take a look cuz Grange said that the Raptors have three guaranteed contracts on their roster presuming Leonard deal goes through. But, also so close to the first apron threshold, $209 million, that adding one more player to get the required 14 players on the roster, let alone 15 players, uh contracts they are allowed to carry is going to be tricky. So, why is this the case? Why is this what's going down? And this also plays into the account to DeMar DeRozan. Why would it be tricky to add one of these types of guys? Well, Grange lays it all out. Basically saying that basically even signing someone on a veteran minimum contract, which counts to $2.49 million against the cap, puts the team over the first apron and restricts them in any moves they made might want to make subsequently. The Raptors have options, making another trade or salary dump or carrying 13 players for most of the first month of the season, but not a lot of them meaning a reunion with former Raptor and franchises all-time leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, that seems like a long shot. And as currently constructed, yes, the Toronto Raptors will be in a tough spot to land DeMar DeRozan. I'm going to break down, you know, some other insights, some other developments, how this could easily be navigated by the Toronto Raptors built on the stuff that they are actually doing. So, we also have some other guys that are out there in the mix right now.

[00:05:22]I'll give all the context before I give the analysis in the full breakdown because another player we know is probably going to be is going to be in this system is Seth Lundy. But, if the Raptors could figure something out, they would do worse than find room for Seth Lundy. The 26-year-old uh was a second-round pick in 2023, but had his career stalled by major ankle injury.

[00:05:39]The challenge there is even having played just nine games in his rookie season, he would still count as a veteran and uh would have to be given a veteran minimum deal. So, the $2.49 million, which is too rich for the Toronto Raptors at the moment. However, given his injury history and how tight the rosters are around the league, the Raptors could possibly sign him to a two-way contract, which is the Raptors have one remaining. So, we have that and then basically Michael Grange pitched this. Basically, in theory, Toronto could convert second-round pick Jayden Bradley, currently on a two-way deal, to a rookie minimum, which is worth $1.37 million against the cap. The Raptors can afford that and also add Lundy as a two-way contract, and which they could convert later in the year. So, this is basically Michael Grange's pitch, you know, for you know, Bobby Webster for this team to really navigate and make these moves to get Lundy out there on the roster. He's saying DeMar DeRozan is a long shot.

[00:06:35]He's saying all that. Well, there is one, I think, clear avenue that should be taken into consideration that I genuinely, you know, surprises an oversight here right now, because Jayden Bradley was objectively, you know, bad out there in Summer League in terms of expectations. Being a guy that was drafted the 50th overall pick, came off the bench of this team and just wasn't very effective.

[00:06:57]The eye test especially. You know, you can take a look at the stats all you want, and the stats weren't good out there for Jayden Bradley by any stretch of the imagination. Only, you know, 20 minutes per game, 6.4 points per night, uh 3.6 rebounds, which is solid, you know, but 3.2 assists and three turnovers per game. Didn't look confident dribbling. Shot 32% from the field as a guard This is just not in 60% from the free throw This is not ideal out there for a guy and didn't make a three-point shot either. He took 0.4 attempts per game.

[00:07:23]He's a smaller guard. It just wasn't wasn't a great look. Wasn't a great look out there for Jayden Bradley.

[00:07:29]Deal who also would be on, you know, a rookie minimum that could come in and get a full-time roster spot, Nate Bittle. You know who would fit exponentially better right now for what we saw in Summer League on this roster, Nate Bittle. Give Nate Bittle the actual full-time roster spot and then give Seth Lundy the two-way deal. So, that's the way you could you get around all this without giving Jayden Bradley more guaranteed money, more guaranteed deals until he proves. Am I writing Jayden Bradley off as some bum or some scrub or anything like that? Of course not. You know, a few games of Summer League isn't going to be indicative of your entire NBA career. But, I wouldn't reward the guy with a full-time roster spot after he played horrible out there in Summer League. That's just not the you know, the way the avenue goes. But, to make the DeMar DeRozan deal happen, to make something go down, right? In order to acquire him. Because if you can get an 18-point per game scorer, especially with Kawhi Leonard being injured, that is you know, tough. Even with this you know, salary issues, the stuff that you're dealing with here now at this point. But, one thing you could do, and I'll pose the question to you guys out there in the comment section down below.

[00:08:29]Would you just trade Trayce Jackson-Davis and a second-round pick to clear up space for DeMar DeRozan? You know, just dump him to the Grizzlies or something and then have that open roster spot. I mean, it's not that difficult to make something happen. I know we do need some big man and giving up another big man, but he's a smaller forward. He wasn't really playing a ton out there in Darko's system when he really could have been out there last season. I mean, there are clear avenues. It's really going to be, in my opinion, if DeMar DeRozan We've seen so many reports.

[00:08:52]We've seen so many things come out about not just DeMar DeRozan's interest, right? This was a tease. This was stuff that you know, came out in terms of these different things, right? Like basically, you know, I'll I'll bring up the reports again. The Raptors have confirmed free agent interest in a reunion with DeMar DeRozan. So, we have that, you know, we have Doug Smith coming out saying, but as one source says, "DeMar DeRozan is Let's bring up the right quote here."

[00:09:15]Basically, the the money hurdle These are here. Yes. This is the right report.

[00:09:19]According to source close to beloved former Toronto Raptors All-Star, DeMar DeRozan would welcome a return to the Toronto Raptors if everything works out.

[00:09:25]Other sources also granted anonymity to speak freely on the subject say the Raptors front office has been thinking about the possibility for some time. I mean, we've been covering this stuff this entire summer, right? We had these things come out, you know, these are Drake's Drake's friends you know posting this about a DeMar DeRozan reunion.

[00:09:42]DeMar DeRozan liked a post about him coming back to the six. There's been so much smoke around this. I mean, it's not that hard to actually make this happen, to make this deal go down. So, I'll pose the question you guys. Do you think just dealing away one of our end of the bench guys, opening up that roster spot, attaching a second round pick, you know, cuz it is a mini salary dump to acquire DeMar is worth it? Personally, you know, DeMar is averaging 18 points per game. I know Christian Jackson Davis is cool. He have high upside, but especially if you have OG Anunoby on the team, you have Poeltl out there in the front court, then of course you have a multitude of guys that can play the four, right? CMB is going to be eating up a ton of minutes. Scotty Barnes is going to be eating up a ton of minutes. Kawhi can play the four out there for stretches for your team, right? You have you know, you have Allen Graves now that can play the front court out there for your team. You have a lot of options out there at that you know, area of the court. So, adding DeMar DeRozan in would just be a no-brainer, even with the hurdles that Michael Grange you know, talked about. So, the Raptors are going to get crafty. They're making some crafty moves. They're positioning themselves to make some you know, very crafty roster upgrades to get around all this salary stuff, but let me know what you guys think about all this in the comment section down below. You guys best thing to do is subscribe to the channel if you guys haven't already.

[00:10:46]Anyways, I'm signing out. Cheers.