Masai Ujiiri is the man who brought you freedom from Andrea Bargnani, flipped an 8th man shooter for Serge Ibaka and turned Demar DeRozan into the best two way player in basketball. The man is a basketball management Jedi, who does not shy away from opportunity to improve his team and should not be overlooked when marquee players become available.
The Pelicans confirmed most of the basketball world’s suspicions on Monday morning, announcing that Anthony Davis informed New Orleans that he does not wish to sign a contract extension with the Pelicans and has subsequently requested a trade out of the Bayou. All 29 General Managers likely began instantly salivating at the notion of adding the best power forward in basketball.
But realistically, if 26 of these eligible teams want a legitimate chance to land AD – the time to act is now. The two proposed front runners for The Brow’s services, LA and Boston, each have minor roadblocks on their quest to acquire this superstar.
Boston is forced to abide by the “Rose Rule” which stipulates that a team can only trade for one player who has been granted a designated rookie scale extension. Irving and Davis both received this extension, and since Kyrie was acquired by trade last summer, Danny Ainge and his war chest of assets will have to wait until July 1st to resign Irving to an extension and hope that the Brow is still a New Orleans resident.
The Lakers have a very different situation on their hands. They could trade for Davis this second if both parties wanted to. But therein lies their problem: does New Orleans want to? The best offer the Lakers could conjure up is a combination of Ball, Kuzma, Ingram, and a future first round pick. Ball has shown flashes of brilliance thus far in his NBA career, but it’s a matter of debate what Kuzma and Ingram bring to the table for an NBA Team who is likely about to undergo a lengthy rebuild.
It’s up to the rest of the league to swoop in and beat that offer before the gates to Unibrow heaven close on February 7th at 3 p.m. ET. What can Masai and the Raps conjure up to bring Davis to Toronto ahead of next week’s trade deadline? Lets take a look:
Pelicans Get: Serge Ibaka, OG Anunoby, Fred Vanvleet, 2022 top 10 protected 1st round pick
Raptors Get: Anthony Davis, Solomon Hill
The Pelicans get Serge Ibaka during one of the best seasons of his career, and a guy who offers a pick-and-pop compliment to Julius Randle’s old school back-to-the-basket game. They also get two of the Raptors best young pieces on incredibly attractive contracts. OG Ananouby is a tantalizing prospect with length and an above average ability to defend stars on opposing teams. He’s put on displays of excellence during last year’s playoffs and would be a strong asset for the Pelicans have under contract if they elect to hit the rebuild button upon AD’s departure.
VanVleet brings the Pelicans some much needed shooting prowess and leadership skills from one of the best back up point guards in basketball. Masai would need to throw in a first rounder following Davis’ contract year to sweeten the pot – don’t be alarmed if the protection is loosened to top three or two. Ujirii knows how rare it is for a player of AD’s caliber to become available, and will likely do whatever it takes to close the deal.
The Raptors get Anthony Davis whose impact need not be explained, and Solomon Hill’s ugly contract to help the Pels shed 5.3 Million in salary and make the money work.
Pelicans Get: Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, lottery protected 2022 1st round pick
Raptors Get: Anthony Davis
Jonas Valanciunas has been one of the most productive players per minute that basketball has ever seen this season – and he’s only 26 years old. If the Pelicans like the sound of that it could do wonder’s for Masai and Co. as they try to structure the right deal to acquire Davis. The pace of the game and prevalence of outside shooting is diminishing the effectiveness of traditional bigs, but Jonas’ on court production this season is proof that big men can be a huge (literally) comparative advantage when utilized effectively.
Delon and Pascal offer very strong defensive skill sets, on cheap contracts and young bodies – all of which pair extremely well with a rebuilding plan in the National Basketball Association. This combination of contracts in exchange for Davis also sheds 5 Million of the books for the Pelicans. Topping this offer off with a 2022 first round pick should give Demps something to think hard about.
If New Orleans did pull the trigger on this deal and lock down Siakam before he figures out his jumper and flourishes into a perennial All-Star candidate – it could turn out to be one of Del Demps smartest decisions of the past decade. Not that the bar for that is set very high.
Pelicans Get: Kyle Lowry, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam
Raptors Get: Anthony Davis, Elfrid Payton
This is the “remain slightly competitive but also have an eye for the future” deal. Think of it as Del Demp’s version of the Clippers-Pistons trade last season. It’s the type of trade that fans talk themselves into after watching several hours of YouTube footage of their incoming players, but deep down it makes them feel nauseous.
Kyle Lowry is an elite NBA point guard on both sides of the ball, who’s presence on a basketball court has consistently elevated his teammate’s level of play. He is also a primary ball handler who wants the basketball in crunch time, and would be a perfect on-ball compliment to Jrue Holiday’s shifty off-ball skill set that he seems extremely comfortable reverting to when called upon.
OG and Siakam are the Raptors two best young players and would be a dream for a rebuilding team to have under control when it comes time to sign their first extensions as NBA players. Each player projects to have have defensive skill sets that could put them on an All-Defensive team one day, and would be a force as defensive anchors on the wings of the Pelicans for the foreseeable future.
The Raps get AD back with Elfrid Payton, who would presumably platoon point guard duties with Fred VanVleet featuring sprinkles of Delon Wright.
It’s a lot to give up for Toronto, and probably the most compelling offer they could make. Trading away 3 of your top 7 players is never an easy thing to do, but if it’s one of the most dominant players in basketball on the other end of the deal it becomes considerably easier to let go.
The Resume of the Toronto Raptor’s General Manager is one impressive body of work. Throughout all of Masai’s smoke screens, money dumps, culture resets and personnel changes, one thing has remained consistent: his intolerance for complacency.
The next step in setting this franchise up for long-term success? Securing a commitment from their franchise player Kawhi Leonard. Having Anthony Davis as your teammate is one hell of an argument to make that happen.
Over and over again Ujiri has shown us his hunger to increase the competitiveness of this Toronto Raptors team by any means necessary. He did something no one thought was possible in trading Demar Derozan for Leonard and Green this past summer. But in the process of calling in that trade Masai Ujiri was doing something much more important: He was sacrificing the reality of being good, for the opportunity to become great.
Don’t be surprised if he takes another home run swing here.
