Fans of the Toronto Raptors were whipped into a frenzy earlier this week when Zach Lowe write in-depth about who the Raptors could move or add at the trade deadline.
When Lowe brought up names like Kevin Garnett, David West, Enes Kanter, Kenneth Faried, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Gerald Green, it got fans excited about adding those kinds of players to the roster.
What was lost in the hysteria is that Lowe buried this in the first paragraph of the section on the Raptors when talking about Masai Ujiri: He vowed that he would not do any trade that sacrificed even a small piece of the future for a one-season upgrade.
It’s the smart move by Ujiri not to go all in this season despite being tempted by the Eastern Conference being there for the taking. Ujiri has been wise to go with a slow, sustainable rebuild of the franchise and he won’t get greedy and make a foolish move leading up to the trade deadline to risk this season being Toronto’s only season to make noise in the playoffs.
Where things could get interesting – and it might result in Ujiri swinging for the fences – is if he feels despite having a lot of cap room in 2016, players won’t look at Toronto because the salary cap is going to bounce up approximately 30 million dollars and “flashy” franchises like the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks will be able to steal some of the players Toronto would normally have a chance with.
In that case, making a trade for a player like Faried makes sense. It also fits the mold of not renting a player, rather adding a piece that will be with the franchise for an extended period of time.
Toronto has expiring contracts like Landry Fields, Chuck Hayes, Amir Johnson and Lou Williams. Fields is likely a player Toronto would be willing to part with (despite his cap room being valuable this summer), but Chuck Hayes still plays a huge role in the locker room and can be a defensive presence when called upon.
Amir Johnson starts for this team but he has a cap hold this summer so it’s possible, but not likely, Toronto packages him with a player or draft pick.
Lou Williams is a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award, so there’s little chance he’s moving anywhere.
Fields is one of the few players likely to be moved in a smaller, minor deal. Two trades that makes sense would see Fields traded to Boston for Brandon Bass’ expiring contract (another big man Dwane Casey could use) or to Utah for Enes Kanter. Kanter is intriguing because he would be a nice bump up from Tyler Hansbrough and as a restricted free agent this summer, Toronto could match any offer he gets if it’s a good value deal.
Terrence Ross has been linked to a lot of chatter and buzz, but it wouldn’t be wise for Toronto to sell him when his stock has been the lowest of his NBA career.
Clowns like Alex Kennedy who reports Toronto is willing to package Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross to snag a star don’t know what they are talking about. Any rumour you hear involving Toronto packaging both of those players you can write off as being bogus.
There’s also the good chemistry vibe that Toronto has right now. For some reason, when the trade was made with Sacramento last season, all of the players bonded and they started playing without egos. There’s the risk that if Ujiri were to make a move mid-season that Toronto could face a similar fate that the Indiana Pacers had last season when they traded Danny Granger for Evan Turner.
Fans can enjoy the buzz leading up to the trade deadline, but don’t get your hopes up too high for Toronto to make a big splash by the deadline tomorrow afternoon.
And, as Ryan Wolstat reminded fans, don’t believe some of the outlandish rumours coming out this week.
The reality is Toronto would be wise to hold onto their current pieces and wait until this summer to make a big move or two.
