When the Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard back in July, they announced to the rest of the NBA that they were now a franchise to be reckoned with. They had finally added that rare and elusive “franchise player” to a team that had topped the Eastern conference standings the previous season. In one fell swoop, the Raptors had gone from a playoff disappointment with a flawed roster, to one of the favourites to reach the NBA Finals.
When you’re a young and talented team with core players signed to long term deals, it’s easy to stay the course and let the team grow and develop. Trading for Kawhi changed everything. Especially since he’s on an expiring contract and could leave this summer. The team has been at or near the top of the league standings all season and even swept the title-favourite Warriors.
And while the Raptors currently have the most wins in the NBA, there are reasons for concern. After starting the season with a sizzling 19-4 record, they’ve gone a more pedestrian 18-11 since then. That’s not bad, but it’s not the type of winning percentage that you expect from a contender. They also currently have a losing record against both Milwaukee and Boston, two teams that they’ll probably have to go through to get to the Finals.
While they’ve been a bit inconsistent on the defensive end, they have the personnel to defend any team in the league and, when dialed in, can give any team fits. That said, they have struggled keeping their opponents off the boards all season long (45 rpg vs 44.8 rpg), and too often a good defensive stand is ruined by an opponent grabbing an offensive rebound. Getting Jonas Valanciunas back will help with that, as he’s easily the team’s best defensive rebounder, but this was a problem even when he was healthy.
Adding a three point shooter will certainly help their below average three-point shooting percentage, but it’s actually been decent as of late, with Danny Green, Kawhi, Fred VanVleet and even Norman Powell now all shooting above 36% from beyond the arc.
The big problem is that, outside of Kawhi Leonard, they have no one else that they can give the ball to in order to manufacture a shot when the team needs a bucket. Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and even Fred VanVleet are pretty good shot creators, but can be shut down too easily by a stingy defence, which is why they go through so many scoring droughts.
Of course, what they really need is another star player. Lowry is likely an All-Star again and has been the heart and soul of the team even with Kawhi, but he’s getting older he’s struggling to shoot the ball and score (his 14 ppg is the lowest since his first season with the Raptors when he was platooning with Jose Calderon). Siakam is a borderline All-Star who is a favourite for the Most Improved Player Award, but there are fears he’ll struggle to make the same impact in the playoffs when the games slow down and teams can game plan more for him.
There was talk of trading for Bradley Beal, which would have been great (he’s the scorer and shooter the Raptors needs, and he’s also a good defender and willing passer- plus, he’s just 25), but Washington seems unwilling to part with him, at least for a reasonable price.
And now there’s Anthony Davis. After giving New Orleans far too long to try and build a decent team around him, Davis has finally had enough and asked out. LeBron and the Lakers are obviously the most talked about destination, but Boston is the team that can offer New Orleans the most for him. Unfortunately for Boston, they can’t actually trade for Davis until July 1st because they have Kyrie Irving playing under a designated player extension (a rule under the collective bargaining agreement that forbids a team from having two players on the same team playing under a designated player extension).
Toronto management should have two questions: Can the Raptors trade for Davis and should they?
Now, no one outside of Dell Demps (GM for the Pelicans) knows whether a package consisting of, for example, Jonas Valanciunas, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Delon Wright and a first round pick would be enough to get Davis (basically anyone outside of Leonard should be offered), and whether it would be better than what the Lakers could offer. Valanciunas is just 26 years old and is averaging nearly 25 ppg and 14 rpg per 36 minutes, Siakam is looking like a future star and OG, despite struggling with consistency this season, is still a player that can dazzle you with his potential.
When Kawhi Leonard was available, Masai Ujiri rightly pounced on him because he knew players like Kawhi do not become available very often. And now Anthony Davis is available.
There are arguments to be made against trading for Davis…
1. Trading for Davis would ruin the Raptors depth
Yes, when healthy, the Raptors are one of the deepest teams in the league, but depth doesn’t get you very far in the playoffs, when rotations are shortened to 8 or 9 players. Bench players are far more easily found than star players and, in fact, you can usually find decent players who are bought out after the trade deadline.
2. The Raptors don’t need to add another star player
Milwaukee is ahead of the Raptors in the standings and they only have one star player. Of course, Milwaukee hasn’t won a playoff series since 2001, while Golden State, Boston, Houston and Oklahoma all have multiple All-NBA players on the team. This is the era of the “super team” and if you want to compete for a title, you need more than one All-NBA player.
3. Don’t rock the boat when the team’s doing so well, especially since it might harm your chances of keeping Kawhi
While they may have the most wins in the league right now, they aren’t dominating teams like they did at the beginning of the season. Their record the last two months shows they need something. Davis is a player with a similar, quiet, team-first demeanour as Kawhi who would form possibly the most lethal defensive duo the league has ever seen. He’s not a player like Jimmy Butler, whose personality sometimes rubs people the wrong way. It’s more likely adding Davis would entice Kawhi to stay by showing Kawhi the Raptors will do what it takes to win.
4. What if Kawhi leaves and Davis doesn’t want to re-sign?
Then the Raptors can trade Davis this summer and get a head start on their rebuild.
It’s hard to argue against trying to trade for Davis. If the Raptors want to win, they should at least try. They’ve never had the league-wide respect they currently have and should use it to get as much talent to Toronto as they can.