The Toronto Raptors have been carefully linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo, though he isn’t the one participant that Toronto may add this summer season.
The Toronto Raptors, after buying and selling away a lot of their 2019 championship core, are on the best way up. Constructed on the backs of a stable, well-rounded younger core, the Raptors appear to be on the verge of competing for the following a number of seasons, though group president Masai Ujiri won’t be capable of assist himself.
Ujiri and the Raptors have lengthy been considering including Giannis Antetokounmpo, and their curiosity has seemingly come to a head.
“The Raptors are a group that’s beginning to make noise inside the league about on the lookout for an enormous fish,” stated ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Who else may that imply other than Giannis? Whereas it’s clear that he’s seemingly their favourite choice, the Raptors are ready the place they’ll make a number of totally different strikes.
Listed below are three neglected “huge fish” they may add this summer season.
Kevin Durant is injury-prone and solely has one season left on his contract, so the Raptors will not be assured to get a couple of season out of him.
For Ujiri, that’s no downside. He traded DeMar DeRozan and draft capital to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard in 2018, ensuing within the franchise’s lone title.
Including Durant could possibly be a really related transfer.
Full Mock Commerce Particulars:
- Raptors obtain: Kevin Durant
- Suns obtain: RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, 2026 first-round choose, 2028 first-round choose
The Phoenix Suns get a younger guard, a rim protector, and two unprotected picks, which is as a lot as potential for one 12 months of Durant.
The Raptors, in the meantime, would both draft a rim-protector ninth total or signal Brook Lopez or Clint Capela.
Toronto would trot out an outsized beginning 5 of Immanuel Quickley, Durant, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and a middle (TBD), with loads of younger wings coming off the bench.
The Raptors may solely have one shot to win a title, however in a wide-open Japanese Convention, now could be the time to make a transfer, equally to how they pulled the set off when LeBron James moved West.
Barnes is likely one of the higher defenders within the league, and including a high-level rebounder and rim protector within the frontcourt subsequent to him would make the Raptors a pressure to be reckoned with.
In contrast to Durant, Jarrett Allen has 4 seasons left on his contract, making him a long-term fixture in the event that they had been to commerce for him.
After a second-round exit by the hands of the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers won’t be content material on working issues again with the identical roster, and opening up the paint a bit for Evan Mobley to actually blossom ought to be a precedence.
Full Mock Commerce Particulars:
- Raptors obtain: Jarrett Allen
- Cavaliers obtain: Ochai Agbaji, Jakob Poeltl, 2026 first-round choose, 2028 first-round choose
On this deal, the Raptors enhance their beginning unit, and Barnes and Allen could be surrounded by stable shooters like Barrett, Quickley, and Ingram.
In the meantime, Cleveland provides a stable backup in Poeltl behind Mobley, and, with Agbaji being on an expiring contract, would get monetary savings down the stretch.
Whereas the Cavs lose one of the best participant on this commerce, they may elevate their wing rotation by taking a non-shooting huge in Allen out of their rotation, and get some draft capital again to flip for an additional win-now participant down the highway.
The Raptors have a stable wing in Ingram, ball-handlers in Barrett and Quickley, a defensive-minded heart in Poeltl, and a do-all ahead in Barnes. Including one of the best scorer within the NBA Draft looks like a simple selection for them to make.
The one challenge is that Tre Johnson is not going to be on the board when the Raptors choose ninth total. By then, they may choose Kon Knueppel, Nique Clifford, or Kasparas Jakučionis, however these gamers all have clear weaknesses.
If Knueppel is on the board, that wouldn’t be a nasty choice, though Johnson has one of the best offensive upside of anybody within the class.
Johnson can rating off the dribble or as a stationary catch-and-shoot menace. When he will get the ball in his palms, he’s going to shoot it, and the Raptors have loads of facilitators to get him open.
In fact, Toronto must commerce up, however groups just like the Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs might need curiosity in making a deal, provided that they have already got a core of gamers in place.
Including Johnson would seemingly knock Barrett to the second unit, permitting the Raptors to construct some depth and make a transfer to be a long-term winner, not only a one-season flash within the pan like including Durant would create.
