There’s an archetype in the NBA of players who don’t have a ton of skill but are athletic, try hard on defense, and “hustle” after rebounds and loose balls.

Many believe you need a player or two like that to help round out your rotation. Think of guys like O’Neale, Portis, Tucker. Or older players like Tony Allen, Corey Brewer, MKG. In the modern game these players have been forced to develop a corner 3 just to make a team.

I think Masai incorrectly assessed these are the players that “win games”. That they’re the money ball of basketball. That if you just have a team full of “high motor” “hustle defenders” that the metrics work out.

We’ve joked about it being vision 6’9 but I think this archetype has really been what Masai has tried to build. He said in an interview that they would snatch up every kind of player that fit this mold.

The problem is, that’s not how basketball works. Basketball is a fluid and (imo) one of the most skill dependent sports. But those types of players are some of the least skilled. They get by with athleticism and trying hard, usually off the bench. The Raptors have nothing but those kinds of guys.

The team is now hip deep into the sunk-cost fallacy. They’ve invested years into developing this roster with this archetype in mind and now are reluctant to back out. Unfortunately, it was never going to work to begin with. Golden State figured out “the money ball” team comp years ago. Fill your roster with highly highly skilled players who can switch on defense and live with the lack of rebounding/shot blocking.

We now are just waiting for the FO, Masai, MLSE…whoever, to do the hard part and realize their experiment isn’t going to work and stop investing resources into it. Easier said than done.

They don’t have actual pressures to fix things is the scary part. Outside of upset fans, Scotiabank still sells out and the team continues to rise in valuation. I think fans’ hope that they finally sell at the deadline/off-season are going to be disappointed.