Okay, well, barring any last-minute things (and I think I’m comfortable that we’re good here), this is the trade deadline Toronto had:
It traded for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji. Both will play, and likely help the team. They are NBA-caliber players.
It also lost, in different ways, Dennis Schroder, Thad Young, Otto Porter jr., Kira Lewis jr., and a first-round pick this upcoming draft. Schroder really helped the team — he had the fourth-best on/offs on the squad, behind Porter (lol), OG Anunoby (of course), and Boucher (maybe he’ll play now?). Toronto will miss his competent play. Young battled when on the floor, but he was limited on the defensive end.
It seems like Toronto is still trying to win games this year, in keeping Olynyk. Or perhaps not, in trading Schroder. That is confusing, keeping one and getting rid of the other. Of course, Toronto waived Spencer Dinwiddie, who is also an NBA-level backup guard, in the Schroder trade. So it seems like the Raptors are trying to lose games for the remainder of the year. But it kept Bruce Brown and added Olynyk, both of whom will help the team.
So it’s a half-measure trade deadline. Again. Just like last year. At least the players can rest easy and focus on the games at hand! That, more than anything, is likely to turn Toronto’s fortunes this year.
Thanks so much for rocking with me today!
3:00 pm: Per Woj, the Raptors are keeping Bruce Brown. There you go.
2:56 pm: Per Shams, the Raptors are waiving Dinwiddie. They really couldn’t find a trade for him. Good thing I didn’t write about his fit!
2:50 pm: The Dejounte Murray domino has fallen! He is staying in Atlanta. That means Bruce Brown is that much likelier to be moved. You can imagine the Raps are working them phones. A few minutes to go.
2:45 pm: Annual reminder: The trade deadline is technically over at 3 pm, but they can trickle in to the office, and to newsbreakers, after that. So wait until 3:30 before saying it’s over. As of now, we’re rounding the corner on this thing. Woj just said on TV that Toronto is still talking Bruce Brown deals, so that’s something.
2:30 pm: Half an hour left, and we don’t even have any rumours. Real Gs and Lasagna, of course, but we’re cutting it close here.
1:41 pm: We’re slowly turning the corner on this thing, and Toronto’s suitors are slowly dropping out of the race. Patrick Beverley to Milwaukee, per Shams. Phoenix just picked up Royce O’Neal. It’s possible that Brown and Boucher stay put.
12:45 pm: Another trade! Per Woj, the Raptors are trading Dennis Schroder for Spencer Dinwiddie. Thad is also going to Brooklyn. Huh. I don’t think I’m going to write about this until after the deadline is over. But he’s definitely taller.
Okay, some thoughts now: Schroder has been really good for Toronto. I know fans are turning on him, but fans just don’t like point guards. Point guards shoot today! There’s no such thing as a successful pass-first point guard in today’s NBA. Schroder has been good, I think. Dinwiddie has been less good, and he’s been much less efficient. Schroder, though, has guaranteed money next year, and Dinwiddie is expiring this offseason. It might be as simple as that.
The Thad angle is simply, Olynyk is going to play his minutes, and Thad Young makes the money match for the Dinwiddie trade.
12:05 pm: We have crossed the Rubicon … into the afternoon. I imagine Toronto is still highly likely to make another trade. At least one. But Chris Boucher and Bruce Brown are very unlikely to be Raptors three hours from now. All quiet on the trade front for the past hour or so. Milwaukee still hasn’t made a move. I really see Toronto and Milwaukee as natural trading partners, increasingly as the day goes on.
11:30 am: Well, I wrote about Olynyk and Agbaji, which you can read here, but what did I miss? A lot. Most importantly for Toronto, Quentin Grimes is gone to Detroit (poor guy), so cross him off the list for Bruce Brown.
10:35 am: We have movement! The Raptors have traded for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji, in exchange for Kira Lewis, Otto Porter and a 2024 first-round pick, per Woj. Okay, lots to write about now. I’ll be back.
10:30 am: There are some trades happening, but the major thing I’m seeing is that first-round picks aren’t being traded so much right now. Hield got three seconds. Xavier Tillman got seconds. Don’t be so certain the Raptors are going to get first-round picks if they sell off some of their veterans.
10:25 am: It’s not quite a finalized trade, but it’s something. Buddy Hield to the Sixers! Damn, I love that for them. He’s so good. Wait, it is finalized. Well the Sixers are really loading up for a championship run. Let’s hope Joel Embiid gets back healthy asap, because this team is unbelievably fun.
10:05 am: Seems like Bruce Brown is coveted. If I had to guess, I think the Bucks are the most natural trading partner. Dejounte Murray is a bigger priority for teams that would want Brown, and he seems like the domino that has to fall first. While there were rumours about his going to New Orleans, Chris Haynes is reporting that the Hawks-Pelicans conversations have halted. So don’t hold your breath on Brown — other stuff has to fall, leaguewide, for Brown to become the first phone call for many teams. Unless someone wants to just get something done early. So, you know, anything is possible. But I imagine the Brown deal isn’t going to happen until the afternoon at the earliest.
9:22 am: I’m back. Man oh man. Kid wouldn’t put on his shoes. Dog pulled the whole walk. Life goes on.
But do trades go on? Nothing so far. There’s usually nothing for a few more hours, at least. Based on the last few days, if a deal is already going to trade deadline day, it usually heats up around noon. A few things might trickle in before then, but that’s when things start flying in hot and heavy. So stay strapped in.
8:05 am: Howdy! Morning! Welcome!
As always, I’m going to be hanging out here throughout the day, drinking so much coffee my gut rots, refreshing twitter so much my eyes bleed, and stressing so much my moustache falls out. Sounds fun!
This is the trade deadline open thread. Hang out in the comment section! Ask me any questions you might like. I’ll be updating this bad boy as we go. So far, we have so many rumours about Bruce Brown destinations that I’m not even going to list them. Yesterday’s was with Utah, I believe.
I am off to walk my dog and take my kid to daycare, so I’ll be back in about an hour. Let’s just hope nothing major happens before then.
We already some resources (plenty of resources) available for your trade day consumption.
- You can read Adon’s (solo) roundtable, which is predictably fantastic. He’s such a great writer.
- He also wrote about other trades he would like to see the Raptors make after the (re-signing) Siakam deal.
- I wrote about some trade targets I desired as well, in particular Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Andre Jackson jr., and others.
- I also wrote about everything surrounding the decision to trade or keep Brown.
- The Raptors also have other players that could very well be traded too: Gary Trent jr., Chris Boucher, Otto Porter jr., and others. The only real untouchables on this team are Scottie Barnes and probably Immanuel Quickley.
Finalized trades:
- Dinwiddie for Schroder. Also saw it first with Woj.
- Per Woj, House to the Pistons, Hayward to the Thunder. I don’t see the meaning for Toronto, so no need for me to dive in too deep, here.
- Per Woj (I’m not even looking at other reporters’ twitter pages any more), Daniel Gafford is going to the Mavericks. I like that for them, but that could limit the number of destinations for Chris Boucher.
- Per Woj (he’s kinda running away with this day), Knicks: Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks Pistons: Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks.
- Buddy Hield to the Sixers for Marcus Morris, Furkan Korkmaz and three second-round picks. Per Woj.
- The Raptors have traded for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji, in exchange for Kira Lewis, Otto Porter and a 2024 first-round pick, per Woj.
