So Masai pulled the trigger on the deal that will define his career as a GM. He traded a franchise cornerstone for potentially a top 3 player in the league (who is kind of weird, by all accounts). In my opinion, you do this trade without even thinking 1000 times over and I don’t care how much you love DeRozan.
Let me start off by saying I don’t care about DeRozan’s loyalty. That isn’t a reason to keep a player who consistently under performs on the biggest stages. “Ohh but he loved Toronto”….I don’t give a fuck, he sucked ass in the playoffs. His love for Toronto means shit! His loyalty is no reason to keep him around, its actually a poor reason to keep him around. I’ve noticed today everyone is upset Demar is leaving because of loyalty…no one is actually mad that his talents are leaving, no one is saying the Raptors can’t replace his spot on the roster….that tells a lot about our supposed “all star”. I’m willing to bet that DeRozan doesn’t even make the all star team in the West.
The Raptors did not do him dirty. Welcome to the real world, where you’re a commodity and your employer doesn’t give a fuck how much you love where you work. Anyone’s employer can axe them tomorrow, DeMar at least will still be making $27M. Your life aint so bad, get over yourself.
This deal is a win/win for Toronto no matter what happens:
“…But he won’t even show up”
There is no indication of that from Kawhi or his team. This all came from his uncle…who by all accounts sounds like an idiot. This man wants to get paid next summer and no one is going to pay a diva who just sat out 2 seasons. No player in history has ever done that. If Kawhi wants his money next year, he better show up and play his heart out. If he doesn’t, he has MILLIONS to lose. The Raptors can fine him for each missed pre-season game, practice and regular season game for the full amount of his contract and he could also risk losing UFA status according to the CBA. So mans better show up.
“…but he isn’t even healthy”
If this guy is really injured from a quad strain for over a year, then get this man a new leg. I think his injury stuff is all bullshit and some bad shit went down in San Antonio that only those involved know about. We can’t comment about what went on down there, but given he was going to go to Team USA camp next week, thats a pretty good indication that he can play and is healthy.
“He’s a rental and won’t resign”
That’s perfectly fine! The Raptors were going to rebuild in 2 years anyways, now they ensured they didn’t have DeRozans stupid contract clogging anything up. Raps just saved $27M a year for the next 3 years. And if Kawhi resigns…fucking amazing. We just signed the best player in the East who is a proven winner.
“What if he isn’t good and Raptors get bounced in the payoffs”
What else is fucking new? Same thing would’ve happened with DeRozan, so who cares?
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There is no losing this trade. You either win and he leaves ($27M in the bank), You win and he stays and win more (fun times) OR you lose and he leaves (and still keep your first round pick and get $27M in the bank).
The bottomline is the rebuild was coming and Masai had to take a shot at a title. That was not going to happen with Demar. He has been consistently bad in playoffs and completely underperformed. He is not the kind of guy to pull his team from the trenches and rally his troops. He’s more the kind of guy to sulk on the bench because his team is rallying back in a game 3 and he’s benched for the 4th quarter (don’t forget that actually happened). This trade is all on DeMar, you got swept 3 times in 5 years and every time Lebron walked into your building, you shit your pants. I don’t give a fuck about loyalty, a GM is loyal to his ownership and fanbase and they both demand winning. If you fail to deliver that year in and year out, then you have to go. DeMar forced Masai’s hand and he has no one to blame but himself. Last year’s playoff performance was the most embarassed I’ve ever felt to rep one of my teams. Lebron made Toronto into a fucking meme, don’t forget that shit. And DeMar (our all star and saviour) sat there and let it happen.
Masai just got a top 3 player in the league and dont forget Danny Green who is pretty solid. All he gave up was a Regular Season All Star, good bench Centre and a heavily protected 1st. Thats a HUGE trade and one that takes balls that you have to admire.
Torontonians always complain that stars never want to come here in free agency, well trading is how you get them and you just got one. So don’t complain. Everyone in Toronto got hard for Tavares….Kawhi is on another level compared to Tavares. MLSE has a year to impress Kawhi, they better fucking pull out all the stops and make all the tribute videos in the world, just like they did for Tavares. This is the best player to ever wear a Raptors jersey.
All in all, you can’t get sentimental about this. Masai made a strategic move to make his team better. He was not going to go into the season with the exact same roster as last year. Sure DeRozan was a great guy in the city, but you get paid to perform and if you fail to deliver results, you have no right to complain about being shipped out. DeMar has no one else to blame but himself for this trade.
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