When the Cleveland Cavaliers stole Kyle Korver like a thief in the night, the unofficial bell tolled: Trade season had begun. While we sat at the bar and bent our elbows, arguing about who would fit best in our kingdom of second place, a general manager went out and bettered his team. He addressed a need and filled it swiftly, and while Kyle Korver is sure to test the waters of unrestricted free agency come July, he increased the chances of doing it with a ring on his hand.
While we licked our wounds and complained of Paul Millsap being taken off the trade market or DeMarcus Cousins stating his love for Sacramento we turned angry. We were no longer satisfied with hypotheticals, we wanted action. We picked up the conversation again and in the midst of a two game losing skid to the Bulls and Rockets we were ready to tear it down. With the exception of our unassailable backcourt we offered up any name we felt like to the trade gods. Powell, Patterson, Joseph, Valanciunas, Ross rolled off our tongues with the venomous drip of an ex-lover’s name and we didn’t care.
We forgot.
All it took was a gritty performance against a team trying to steal our silver crown. We watched Jonas Valanciunas single handedly out-rebound the Celtics in the fourth quarter and all was forgiven. That forgiveness will quickly turn to spite the second we watch him drop a single entry pass, spot Cory Joseph in a fifteen second dribble, or catch Terrence Ross losing his man faster than Carl Hanratty loses sight of Frank Abagnale. The hypothetical trades will bubble to the surface, and still we’ll be forgetting:
Jared Sullinger exists.
The Toronto Raptors are being held hostage by the unknown and until that variable is solved for, there is little point in getting worked up over the current state of the team. While Sullinger is no Millsap or Cousins, he was guaranteed the starting power forward spot to begin the season. While his contact is friendly, he was signed for a very specific reason, and that reason is going to be tested. The Raptors currently rank dead last in defensive rebounding percentage and have a player on the verge of returning who ranked 13th in that category last season, despite his struggles.
In his three years since his rookie season he’s averaged 12.1 pts, 8.1 rbs and 2.1 asts in just 25.9 minutes per game. As the son of a coach he’s applauded for his input on the sidelines, and his palpable enthusiasm hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates. He’s excited for a new start in a new city that went to game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against one of the best teams ever assembled.
Where he fits in upon his return, and whether that return happens soon enough to change the Raptors’ trade plans remains to be seen, but isn’t it worth waiting for?
