Weekly Takes - Monday, July 4 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, July 4 Edition

1. Everyone is – or should be – entitled to do whatever they want with their own body, but I still do not see how the Red Sox can ever let Tanner Houck back in their clubhouse again after he single-handily cost his team a divisional game against a team that they are fighting with for a higher playoff seed simply because he does not want to be vaccinated.

That is as crushing of a loss as a team can have in the regular season.

2. Re-signing Chris Boucher and Thad Young is nice for the Raptors, but the signing of Otto Porter is the tidiest bit of business by the Raptors this offseason.

He is not a point guard or a centre, no, but he’s another player with a massive wingspan. The difference between him and many others? He can drain threes.

The below lineup can compete for homecourt this upcoming season…

Pascal Siakam - Fred VanVleet - Gary Trent Jr. - OG Anunoby - Scottie Barnes

Malachi Flynn/Delano Banton - Porter - Young - Chris Boucher - Precious Achiuwa

Banton/Flynn - Khem Birch

David Johnson/Ron Harper Jr. - Justin Champagnie - Christian Koloko

Waived/Not Brought Back: Armoni Brooks, Jalen Harris, Svi Mykhailiuk, and Yuta Watanabe

3. That mock lineup all goes for naught if you trade for Kevin Durant.

If I am Masai Ujiri, I would trade as many first-round picks as it takes, Anunoby, and one of Siakam/VanVleet/Trent Jr.

Trading Barnes would be a very, very difficult thing to do. But then again, it would be for Kevin Durant.

4. I very much like Jalen Brunson, but the Knicks giving him a max contract is what a desperate franchise does when they refuse to enter a proper rebuild.

The Knicks ceiling is a play-in spot.

5. The Hawks trading for Dejounte Murray is obviously a home run given the calibre of player he is and the fit that he will be with Trae Young but I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the trade from a Spurs perspective.

What does trading an All-Star point guard who is in his prime for draft picks way down the road accomplish?

If a player like Murray does not fit into your plan, your plan is wrong.

6. The Nets knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed Kyrie Irving in 2019, but it is still hard not to feel a bit bad for Sean Marks and the management staff in Brooklyn.

Up until that point, Marks completely turned the franchise around, starting with the Kevin Garnett trade in 2013, so much so to the point where the Nets were *the* viable franchise heading into 2019 free agency.

Now they are back to being in no man’s land barring an outstanding return for Durant.

7. The Timberwolves trading their future for Rudy Gobert, who is about to get progressively worse each season for the rest of his career, is what happens when an irreverent franchise finally has a taste of some success and wants to capitalize on it.

Their ceiling is the Western Conference finals in their absolute best season. But they are never going to come out of the West.

8. The Celtics trading for Malcolm Brogdon, in my mind, puts them right there with the Bucks as favourites in the Eastern Conference this season.

Though I very much like what the 76ers have done this offseason as well, starting with the PJ Tucker signing. That guy can play on my team any day.