It was a pretty quiet Tuesday as far as the Toronto Raptors and the rumor mill are concerned. That’s not all that surprising – Masai Ujiri and Jeff Weltman like tight lips to be kept around the organization, and it’s usually a safe bet the information beforehand is coming from an opposing team or agents, anyway. The Raptors don’t let information slip until after the fact. That doesn’t mean there aren’t nuggets out there, though, because other organizations can be a little leakier.
Here are a few brief notes from Tuesday.
Competition for P.J. Tucker
We went deeper on the Raptors’ reported interest in Phoenix Suns wing P.J. Tucker yesterday, and he remains the only name being consistently tied to the Raptors. They have competition, though – Michael Scotto lists the Hawks, Clippers, Wizards, Celtics, and Jazz as teams all interested in Tucker, too, which could make things complicated for the Raptors. Phoenix has been trying to land a first-round pick for the rental piece, and while that would seem like too large a price tag, if six teams are interested, maybe someone jumps. (The Timberwolves are also said to have offered Shabazz Muhammad for Tucker.)
What this does for the Raptors is make it more likely they either have to pony up a first or a prospect. Their second-round picks don’t hold a ton of value given where they’d come, and while the teams mentioned with them will pick in the same range, Atlanta and Boston both own additional second-round picks likely to fall in the 30s this year, and the Jazz own an extra second, as well.
So, yeah, there’s competition there.
Lowry tidbit
Another note that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone comes from Steve Kyler, who passes along that word at All-Star break was that Lowry is “all in” with the Raptors, and part of the reason for acquiring Serge Ibaka was to help convince Lowry to stay. Expect the Raptors to give Lowry the DeRozan treatment and present him with a substantial offer of July 1, unless things go south between now and then.
Raptors offered Valanciunas and a first for Cousins
On the latest Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe revealed that the Raptors reportedly offered Jonas Valanciunas and a first-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins. As discussed a bit yesterday and later today in my mailbag column, it’s really difficult to be upset with the Raptors or 28 other fanbases for not getting a Cousins deal done – the Kings sound like they wanted a very specific offer (expirings, a prospect, and picks), and they significantly overvalued one particular prospect. It probably wouldn’t have made much difference if the Raptors tossed in Norman Powell, too, if the Kings either don’t love Valanciunas or weren’t willing to take on his salary.
In any case, it’s nice to hear that the Raptors remain active on star-level players.
A note on Valanciunas-Drummond
I got asked a bunch about Sports Illustrated’s reported Valanciunas-for-Andre Drummond package yesterday, and I remain fairly skeptical there were serious discussions. I added it in this space yesterday, but it was a small note at the end, so here it is again. (Also: The discussions happened pre-Serge Ibaka.) Drummond is a nice, exciting piece who’s a ton of fun to watch and may grow to be even better than he already is. But he’s also nearly 50 percent more expensive than Valanciunas moving forward, and the Raptors are about to find themselves in a serious luxury tax crunch. Drummond brings similar defensive issues, the centers are comparable rebounders, and Valanciunas’ ability to hit the mid-range jumper and knock down free-throws are important to the Raptors, as is his willingness to accept the specifics of his role.
Drummond’s cool, but it’s probably not worth paying him way more and surrendering assets to make the swap for what may not even end up an upgrade within the context of the team.
Poor Valanciunas, though. His name will probably be in the rumor mill again closer to draft night, if the Raptors wind up looking to trim salary.
Jared Sullinger, master troll
The Raptors’ big man got in on the recent trend of NBA players teasing moves through the use of emojis on Tuesday, riling up the fanbase a bit.
👀👀✌🏽✌🏽
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) February 22, 2017
The eyes are famously a sign of “something happening,” and the deuces are an obvious goodbye. Really, though, the Raptors are all returning to Toronto right now and will have their first practice on Wednesday, so Sullinger was likely just having some fun as he set to come back.
🛬 wheels down
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) February 22, 2017
Feels good to be home in my bed!!!! Nothing like your own bed.
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) February 22, 2017
If the Raptors make a move, Sullinger is the most likely outbound piece, but he was probably just being a troll here.
Assorted
*Shout out to Lou Williams, who is on his way to Houston. The Lou Williams Experience is something every fanbase should get to go through. His time here was so much fun.
*The Nets lowered the price on Brook Lopez, the Suns want Derrick Favors, and there’s still a market for Jahlil Okafor. None of this impacts the Raptors, but any deal with bigs could inform the market, particularly for the summer.
*Larry Sanders has been spotted in Cleveland. I got asked about him a lot when it was reported that he was coming back. The Raptors don’t really have a frontcourt need any longer with seven bodies there, and without knowing Sanders personally, it’s difficult to judge how the fit may be in regards to what he needs off of the court. I’m sure it’d be fine, and the talent is obvious, I’m just not sure they’d unload one of the rookies to land him (and they’d probably target a wing, if anything). Here’s hoping Sanders’ return is successful.
