There seems to be widespread agreement at this point that one of the Raptors' core offensive problems is a lack of three-shooting. The team only has four historically above-average three-point shooters: Lowry, Patterson, Ross and Carroll. Patterson is ice-cold right now, Ross was cold before he got injured, Lowry is shooting league average at best and Carroll is down. We have a dearth of three-shooters, and that's a serious problem.
Here is a list of every player in the league this season shooting at least 5 threes per 36 minutes and who's shooting more than 34% on threes:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...t=&order_by=ws
Looking at that list it's clear there aren't that many options. Once you kill all of the star options that we cannot trade for, skip all the quality gunners playing for teams looking to compete, and cut the marginal players who barely have minutes, the list boils down to:
Eric Gordon
Ryan Anderson
Toney Douglas
Hollis Thompson
Isaiah Canaan
And honestly, I think even this is a stretch, because Philly WANTS young assets right now, and New Orleans might not be ready to give up yet, even if they should. In a few weeks' time, we might be able to add Marco Belinelli, Jeremy Lin, Nic Batum and Jeremy Lamb to the list, if Sacramento and Charlotte begin to plummet as expected.
Here's another list: this is everybody who, last season, made at least 100 three-point attempts and shot at least 36%:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...t=&order_by=ws
Mostly the same crowd, but some additional gettable names on this list, same logic as above:
Anthony Morrow (OKC doesn't trust him)
Luke Babbitt
Jonas Jerebko
Wayne Ellington
Dorell Wright (currently in China)
The point to be made here is: there aren't a lot of available shooters in the trade market.
Looking forward to next season, the free agent market has a bunch of decent shooters, but most of them will be snapped up quickly. (For example, Bradley Beal WILL end up in Washington again; he's just an RFA because Washington has Durant money free up.) The question becomes: who can the Raptors consider targeting in free agency who can give the team much-needed shooting? Other than Kevin Durant, of course.
Harrison Barnes is probably the best (but most expensive) bet: he'll be an RFA and unlike Beal, if he's offered a max, Golden State might not match. Nic Batum will be available. Donatas Motiejunas is an RFA and a good shooter (but not hot on the boards). Ryan Anderson is unrestricted but will probably cost too much. Chandler Parsons will probably opt out.
tl;dr: The NBA free market has largely cornered most quality shooting. Trades appear unlikely and free agency next year will be a fight. Of course.
Here is a list of every player in the league this season shooting at least 5 threes per 36 minutes and who's shooting more than 34% on threes:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...t=&order_by=ws
Looking at that list it's clear there aren't that many options. Once you kill all of the star options that we cannot trade for, skip all the quality gunners playing for teams looking to compete, and cut the marginal players who barely have minutes, the list boils down to:
Eric Gordon
Ryan Anderson
Toney Douglas
Hollis Thompson
Isaiah Canaan
And honestly, I think even this is a stretch, because Philly WANTS young assets right now, and New Orleans might not be ready to give up yet, even if they should. In a few weeks' time, we might be able to add Marco Belinelli, Jeremy Lin, Nic Batum and Jeremy Lamb to the list, if Sacramento and Charlotte begin to plummet as expected.
Here's another list: this is everybody who, last season, made at least 100 three-point attempts and shot at least 36%:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/...t=&order_by=ws
Mostly the same crowd, but some additional gettable names on this list, same logic as above:
Anthony Morrow (OKC doesn't trust him)
Luke Babbitt
Jonas Jerebko
Wayne Ellington
Dorell Wright (currently in China)
The point to be made here is: there aren't a lot of available shooters in the trade market.
Looking forward to next season, the free agent market has a bunch of decent shooters, but most of them will be snapped up quickly. (For example, Bradley Beal WILL end up in Washington again; he's just an RFA because Washington has Durant money free up.) The question becomes: who can the Raptors consider targeting in free agency who can give the team much-needed shooting? Other than Kevin Durant, of course.
Harrison Barnes is probably the best (but most expensive) bet: he'll be an RFA and unlike Beal, if he's offered a max, Golden State might not match. Nic Batum will be available. Donatas Motiejunas is an RFA and a good shooter (but not hot on the boards). Ryan Anderson is unrestricted but will probably cost too much. Chandler Parsons will probably opt out.
tl;dr: The NBA free market has largely cornered most quality shooting. Trades appear unlikely and free agency next year will be a fight. Of course.
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