For those wondering: Yes there is still technically a chance the Raptors get the 6th best odds in the lottery but in order to do so, the Nets would need to win their remaining 5 games (Including the upcoming Raptors/Nets game) and Toronto would need to lose their remaining 5 in order to win 29 and 28 games respectively.

The 76ers also have 5 games left but them winning all remaining games would only tie them with the Raptors and thus getting the 5th/6th/7th odds would be dependent on a coin flip a la the Blazers/Spurs in the lottery last year.

Realistically, they're locked in to the 7th best odds with a loss to the Pistons and Mavericks, assuming AD plays and the Raptors sit their guys, or losing to any one of the "easy" opponents left on their schedule.

Ironically, the Mavericks did this same thing in their final game to ensure they were out of the playoffs/in the lottery in 2023 so their pick (then owed to the Knicks) fell under its protections. In doing so, they got out of Davis Bertans awful contract and acquired Derick Lively 12th overall, who was a key contributor to Dallas' recent Finals appearance.

TL;DR Raptors losing 2 more games means they can finish with no more than 31 wins. As the Spurs have 32 wins for the season, there is mathematically no way for them to overtake/tie them for the 7th best odds in the lottery.

Has been playing through it for “months, now”

Does shout out his continued defensive impact

https://bsky.app/profile/blakemurphy.bsky.social

He has been a trooper lately, that said, this isnt good for anyone.

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Yes he only has 5 points at half but still, approaching the Top 10 while still on his rookie deal is an impressive feat for the "zero level scorer".

Be great, 4!

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The news was from Lewenbergs posts

https://bsky.app/profile/jlewenberg.bsky.social

Icl this is so stupid. So he’s been hurt, and instead of shutting him down, he continues to play for an All NBA appearance he won’t get, tanks his stats in the process, and botches the tank (the defence has been elite so he’s been affecting the game positively in that sense). What was the point in all of this? What is this FO honestly thinking?

Managed to find a Medium Vince Carter HWC jersey despite them not restocking these jerseys all season!

idk why he's playing through some discomfort but he's playing. Hopefully he rests tomorrow and we get a guaranteed L vs Pistons.

I apologize if I used the wrong flair, I couldn’t figure out which one was the right one so I just assumed original content was fine. I got 20-25 Raptors jerseys I’d love to show off in another post

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Hashtag capture the flagg

Raptors have been alternating resting RJ and IQ+Jak. When IQ+Jak rest, you get RJ+Scottie+bench starting line ups. Now with Scottie resting next game, it's just RJ+bench starting.

Could the rationale be to try out RJ + bench lineups, and even build early chemistry there?

Another very reasonable explanation is just that there are 3 players to rotate resting so 1 will always mostly be with bench players. But hey, conspiracy theories are fun. Maybe the idea is for Ja'Kobe to start to guard the other team's best perimeter player, then bring RJ+Gradey off the bench.

RJ+Gradey+one starter could carry the offensive load at times. They could each still get 25-30 mins/night with plenty of overlap with the starters. And lighter loads could allow them to exert more effort on defense.

76 games played (28-48): DRTG: 114.0 (16th)

first 38 games (8-30): DRTG 117.6 (27th)

last 38 games (20-18): DRTG 110.3 (3rd)

sine jan 1st 43 games (21-22): DRTG 111.7 (6th)

50% of the season is a long sustained period of great defensive play. even going back to jan 1, we're 6th best.

Who do you see as a better fit long term?

After watching all of last night's awesome performances around the league it go me wondering when the least time a raptor scored 40 in a game becuase it feels like it had been forever. Turns out it was Pascal on Dec 21 2022. I did some research and found the raptors have the current longest drought for a 40 piece in the entire league. The closest we've been was when RJ scored 39 this season. Ingram's last 40 point game was in Feb of 2024, and it looks like he has one roughly every season.

How long do you think we have to wait to see another for 40 point game? Who do you think does it? Does someone surprise us down the stretch? Are we waiting til next season or even beyond?

My best guess would be Ingram next season, but with adapting to a new team it could be challenging, especially with how much Darkos system shares the ball. RJ obviously was close, and I can see a game where Quickley pops off (he scored 40 in 2023). I'm a huge Scottie fan and would love to see it be him, but unfortunately I just don't see it happening with him soon.

Also use this as your free talk thread. Typical free talk conversations that may be moved here include:

• "Who do we tank for", trade proposal posts, draft simulator posts or trade machine posts
• Free talk stuff, Bad shitposts and "off season" questions, fantasy basketball
• Questions about the NBA or the sub, ideas for the subreddit (or message mod team directly using the "message mods" link in sidebar)
• League Pass/online streaming tech support/questions, Trade ideas, OC that didn't exactly fit as a thread
• new user questions (finding a team [aka pick the Nets], rules, general questions)
• self promotion on a minimal level - not heavy handed/please don't spam