The Toronto Raptors just played the Sacramento Kings a couple of weeks ago, but there’s a genuine sense Sunday’s matchup could be something different entirely. Not only are the Raptors visiting the Kings for game two of their five-game road-trip rather than hosting, you’d also hope they don’t turn in their worst game of the season yet again. More notably, though, the Kings have kind of shifted who they are and who they want to be – despite possessing a gaggle of 7-footers, head coach Dave Joerger is (correctly) embracing the idea of playing smaller, and DeMarcus Cousins is going to primarily play center from here on out.
“I don’t know who else will play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. That’s not any detriment to anyone else or what they’ve done,” Jorger said this week, per the Sacramento Bee.
They defnitely have to try something, because they’re out to a 4-9 start, wasting another year of Cousins’ remarkable prime, and creating an atmosphere in which, yet again, the Kings are surrounded by swirling trade rumors, baseless or otherwise. It’s put a pair of names on the rumor mill who may be attractive to Raptors fans, too – Cousins and Omri Casspi.
It’s important to remember a couple of things when it comes to trades: Rumors are just rumors and information is coming from a source that wants it out there, it takes two teams to make a trade, and other teams can make offers, too. So you might be able to come up with a deal you think is a fair offer for a player and ask “why hasn’t Masai Ujiri done this yet, what is he waiting for?” but it’s important to keep in mind that the Kings would have to agree that’s a fair deal, believe that nobody else would top it (and they’re not in a rush), and have to actually be interested in moving one of the players, which may or may not be true. The fact that the Kings are one of the more confusingly run organizations in the league only makes that more difficult, because who knows what the hell they’re thinking?
So yes, Cousins would be a nice get. Short of dealing Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, there’s not really a package that wouldn’t make sense for Toronto, and Cousins is the type of top-20 talent who would move the needle significantly for the Raptors, and there are very few of those likely to hit the market. I don’t think the team would be all that concerned about the character aspect, either, because Cousins would be heading to a good situation with a stable locker room and an entrenched head coach for the first time, and he’s played with Lowry and DeRozan at the Olympics. It’s worth remembering that Lowry had similar character issues when he joined the Raptors at the same age, and while there was an adjustment period, the organization’s culture and Lowry’s growing maturity won out.
As for what the Raptors could offer, it would hinge almost entirely on what the Kings think of Jonas Valanciunas. It’s hard to construct a logical deal without him, and it’d be a waste to try to play Cousins primarily as a four when he’s so obviously best utilized at the five. If the Kings really dislike Valanciunas, then the Raptors probably can’t get in on a Cousins deal if and when he htis the market – the other pieces simply aren’t enough, and their draft assets really aren’t very special considering they’re likely to be very-low first-round picks. If the Kings like Valanciunas, something like Valanciunas, plus one of Terrence Ross or Patrick Patterson, plus a 2017 first-rounder, plus one of Norman Powell or the other 2017 first-round pick, seems like what the Kings might ask for and Toronto might be willing to part with (I’m assuming the Raptors would get Casspi back in this framework, because he’s both reportedly unhappy in Sacramento, a friend of Cousins, and quite a good basketball player and fit for the Raptors).
Getting Casspi solo is a little trickier, even though his contract is minimal.To make the math work, the Raptors would have to send out either Lucas Nogueira or Jakob Poeltl, something they seem unlikely to do without getting another center back (the team isn’t going to roll with just two centers, and both players have been really intriguing so far). The Kings would probably jump at the chance to get a prospect, or anything, for Casspi, but he doesn’t move the needle enough for Toronto to strip their interior depth and lose a prospect in the process. It’s too bad salaries don’t work out with one of the extra point guards.
In any case, this isn’t really game preview stuff, but it’s what most people seem to want to talk about with the Kings. They annoyingly topped the Raptors in the last meeting, as the Raptors turned in their worst effort of the season. That was with the Kings largely staying big – if they’re going to be a new, smaller look with Rudy Gay primarily at the four, that’s a tougher challenge for some of the Raptors. The Kings were a plus-8 in 24 minutes with Cousins as the lone big in the last meeting.
The game tips off at 9 p.m. on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 590.
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Raptors updates
The Raptors are as healthy as they’ve been in some time but they’re still a little shorthanded with two players on assignment (Raptors 905 play at a 2 p.m. today, by the way). Lucas Nogueira was not with the team Friday due to the birth of his daughter, Stella (congratulations!), but he’s expected to rejoin the team for this one. That just leaves the question of DeMarre Carroll, who recent history suggests may sit out one leg of this Sunday-Monday back-to-back.
PG: Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph
SG: DeMar DeRozan, Norman Powell
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross
PF: Patrick Patterson, Pascal Siakam
C: Jonas Valanciunas, Lucas Nogueira, Jakob Poeltl
ASSIGNED: Fred VanVleet, Bruno Caboclo
OUT: Delon Wright, Jared Sullinger
Kings updates
There’s a bit of guess-work to do here since the Kings haven’t played a game with their new smaller edict yet, but Matt Barnes did start one game earlier in the year and has been getting a ton of run off the bench. The Kings continue to lean on veterans over their young players, which, cool, do you, I guess, Kangz. This is the worst win-now team, based on how they’ve played so far (Raptors game aside), and half the team seems to want out.
PG: Ty Lawson, Darren Collison
SG: Arron Afflalo, Garrett Temple, Ben McLemore
SF: Matt Barnes, Omri Casspi, Malachi Richardson
PF: Rudy Gay, Anthony Tolliver, Skal Labissiere
C: Future Raptor DeMarcus Cousins, Kosta Koufos, Willie Cauley-Stein, Georgios Papagiannis
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The line
The Raptors have had a tough travel schedule of late, close games that have required heavy minutes for key players, and they’re on the road in the first half of a back-to-back. Still, they’re 3.5-point favorites, after opening as 5.5-point favorites. Clearly, the market saw some potential for fatigue with a wider line, and this one (groan) suggests the game could be similar to the last meeting or to Friday’s battle with Denver. It’s hard to picture the Raptors playing so poorly against the same team twice in a row, but the Cousins-as-lone-big idea scares me a bit, even if the Raptors have a significant backcourt edge.
Raptors 107, Kings 102
