The problem is everything they did leading up to Friday contributed to them surrendering leverage with both free agents, as well as potentially with teams around the league in trade talks. Making things work at $30 million would have been tough enough. Anunoby or Scottie Barnes, their trio of versatile forwards, signed to long-term contracts to entertain the notion of paying VanVleet $43 million annually. It would have been irresponsible, considering that the Raptors do not have Pascal Siakam, O.G. Realistically, simply matching the contract wouldn’t have been enough for the Raptors, given the difference between taxes in Texas and Ontario.
#Nip and tuck season 3 full
VanVleet was their top target, and they were ultimately willing to go to a third year at VanVleet’s full earning potential to land him. Houston ownership and management, meanwhile, went through enough losing and off-court immaturity that they were willing to spend their money on win-now players, or at least threaten to. When that failed, he opted into the second year of the contract he signed last summer and asked for a trade, leaving the Rockets with a lot of money to spend. It turns out that was an attempt to get a richer offer from Philadelphia. The unpredictability the Raptors did not account for came in the form of the Rockets, who had been linked to James Harden since the winter. In the interim, the Raptors reportedly agreed to a two-year, $26 million contract with Dennis Schröder, who spent last year with the Lakers. The Raptors kept Poeltl, agreeing to a four-year, $80 million deal, but the Raptors now have a massive hole on their roster and no sure-fire way to fill it for the long term. That took shape Friday, as the Houston Rockets agreed to terms with VanVleet on a three-year, $130 million deal. It also meant that, with even the slightest bit of market unpredictability, things might work against them in the summer. Even if you were more optimistic about what the Raptors could do with a proper centre, their offensive shortcomings had their ceiling fixed pretty low for 2022-23. The move certainly wasn’t worth it for the in-season results, as the Raptors bowed out in a home Play-In game. On paper, it would be nip/tuck to retain all three players, if that is indeed what the Raptors chose to do. having the option to choose free agency this summer, though, adding another core player set to hit the market was risky. Poeltl also added a presence rolling to the basket that opened up the floor for others - most notably Fred VanVleet. Sure, the roster, if you believed in its merits, needed a rim protector in the worst way.
In February, they were on the periphery of the Play-In Tournament when they dealt for free-agent-to-be Jakob Poeltl.
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