Trade Deadline Discussion & Rumours - Raptors and NBA

[OakleyDokely]

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All these insane rumours/discussions are from Morey. All of it. And it's all bull.

It got to the point where people were believing Harden for Simmons was close.

[WuTang_CMB]

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The finish line is within sight, and the pace is picking up.

The preparation for the NBA trade deadline begins months in advance. The league is canvassed. Moves discussed at the draft are revisited. Trade structures rigged up a year ago are resurfaced and tweaked.

This goes on all season. About two weeks out from the Feb. 10 deadline lists get narrowed and possibilities get crossed off, the focus tightens to about 10 teams where there is a potential fit and a connection is conceivable, if not plausible.

By the week of the deadline the focus grows narrower still, with on-going discussions taking place between pods of five or six teams. It’s generally from those conversations that trades get solidified.

It doesn’t mean a deal happens. When the moment comes and one team or both get shy, the deal remains nothing more than conversation.

All of which to say is the Toronto Raptors likely have a good feel for what kind of roster moves they can make between now and 3 p.m. on Thursday.


Will it come down to the wire?

Probably, just because it almost always does. Most executives don’t want to commit too soon on the slim chance that it could preclude them from getting in on a late-emerging opportunity, or in case a deal they like better moves from the back burner to the front and they’ve missed their chance by acting too soon.

But there is a quiet confidence that they are well-positioned to make a deal that will help their red-hot club – winners of five straight and 14-6 in their last 20 starts and suddenly in sixth place and out of the play-in tournament – both this season and in the future.

The tools at their disposal – Goran Dragic’s expiring contract, a basket of future first and second-round picks as well as some players on rookie deals or even Chris Boucher and his expiring contract – haven’t changed, but their position has strengthened on a couple of fronts

Two noteworthy deals have already gone down: on Friday the Portland Trail Blazers gave up two good players (Norm Powell and Robert Covington) to the Los Angeles Clippers for a return centring on a second-round pick and the rights to an unproven rookie taken late in the first round last summer, and on Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers landed Caris Lavert from Indiana for Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract, a lottery-protected first and two seconds, essentially.

The moves give a pretty good indication that the Raptors plan to land a quality rotation player for Dragic’s expiring contract and a first-round pick seems to be on solid footing.

It’s likely looking even better now that the Cavaliers have moved early. With Rubio’s deal and all their picks as well as pending restricted free agent Collin Sexton, the Cavaliers could likely have matched or trumped most Raptors offers.

With them having played their cards, Toronto’s position likely has only improved.

The Raptors also have the benefit of their own hard-earned upward trajectory. It would be a mistake for them not to extract some value from Dragic’s deal, but they’re not desperate.

They’ve learned so much about their team in the past month, their past week even.

VanVleet focused on core players improving rather than adding help at deadline
Heading into the season it was a question how a team that lacked size at centre; lacked a back-up point guard – or at least one that head coach Nick Nurse was comfortable using – and had only two proven three-point threats could compete.

The answer, it turns out, is very well.

“Every team you get, there’s challenges to try to figure out how to piece them together and how they're going to work and how to how to maximize what they can do together,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “… It's definitely challenging but it's OK. I just want to see this group progress. I think guys are getting better individually. I think the team chemistry and the work has been solid and if that continues to improve then we will have a chance almost any night we step out there to do something good.”

In that light, the Raptors don’t have to do anything, but they are in a wonderful position to be able to do something for almost nothing. This time last season the Raptors were trying to decide to trade a franchise icon in Kyle Lowry or a locker room mainstay in Powell. It was intense.

This time around the Raptors believe they can add a player simply by being willing to take on future money for Dragic’s expiring $19.4 million deal – so, for free, basically.

Dragic himself is a wild card. Sources say that the veteran combo guard – who requested leave from the team in November citing disappointment with his role and an urgent family matter – wants to play again this season. The reason he’s been posting videos of his workouts in Miami is to answer questions about if he was contemplating retirement. The 35-year-old wants to play providing he can find the right fit, with winning a priority. The most likely scenario is finding that opportunity after the trade deadline via a buyout, however.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[Consequence]

Bless NBA Central for saving me paying for Stein’s stuff lol.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[WuTang_CMB]

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[Madhouse]

Another thing - margins are so slim right now all these teams are bunched up. We could easily face any team in the first round and be out. Keeping our first is important in order to keep adding. Trading it away for a 6/7 rotation guy who you will have to spend big money on shortly just doesnt add up for me.

Patience is the key this deadline. Get rid of Dragic. Keep Boucher. Look into buyout market for bench help if we cant get any through dragic trade.

Giving up our FRP this year is risky because if we hit a skid, we could easily be back in a play in spot. Then Lose in the first round. We got nothing to show for it come the draft. Dont think Masai takes that risk THIS SEASON.

I'm all for making noise this year but methinks masai stays patient and gets a value low cost trade / picks someone up from buyout.

I think Masai would trade a FRP (lotto protected) for Poeltl. Jakob fits the teams immediate and long term needs and is young enough to be a piece for awhile. Keeping Precious would be insurance for Raps if Jakob becomes too expensive when they need to re-up him in 2 years.

That's not how we operate though. Masai is an asset management freak. We aren't going to give up a FRP only to let that return walk because we can't afford them.

Masai will only trade the pick for a very good player we will be able to keep.

[planetmars]

If every rumour has the Raptors interested in being buyers.. then the only thing they have to sell is a draft pick. The core (incl Gary, Barnes and Banton) are untouchable this deadline. Boucher and Dragic are expiring contracts. Dragic has zero value other than his expiring contract. Precious is likely a keeper since he was the big asset they got for Lowry. Champagnie as well has shown promise and so won't be easily moved.

So that leaves Khem (who's been injured all year), Svi/Watanabe/Flynn/Bonga/Johnson (who have all been uninspiring, and likely negative assets although at minimum values).

So when people say Masai is not trading a first round pick.. well then how do you expect him to be a buyer? It's not like we have many second rounders either (the one from 2022 and 2024 have already been traded).

I trust Tolzman to find another kid from the undrafted heap. We could also eventually trade whoever we get with that pick, to get a pick back. Whatever value a Turner or Poeltl or Nurkic has today will likely increase once he's with the Raptors longer term.

We've moved plenty of picks during the DeMar/Kyle era, and still ended up okay. We're looking for our Serge this deadline. The timeline has moved up.

[Son Goku 25]

I'm thinking now we'll end up moving Dragic in a 3 way deal. Lots of contracts in his range floating around like Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Derrick White, Jerami Grant and such for us to get involved in.

Casey def gotta veto any trade to us lol

[ash_k]

PG FVV
SG OG
SF Barnes
PF Siakam
C Turner
6th GTj + Boucher+Precious
2x DPOY-type players in Turner&OG with 3x All Defensive-team-type players in FVV, Pascal and GTj and a budding one in Scottie
4x 20pts scorers with 2x 15pts scorers in Turner and Scottie.
How many teams would have that kind of combination?

The choice should be clear to everyone.

[StopitLeo]

I still don't do it and dont think management will by thursday. I'm not giving up 15-23rd pick in the draft at this stage and with us pretty much set with the starting 5. If we had a major need at SG say, and there was a guy like Gary out there, then that's a different story. We have the 5 peices. Just need to keep growing and adding through the draft. As I said, a small skid and going back to the play in spots is very much a possibility... adding that to a first round loss, and a FRP is vital at this stage.

The current situation is akin to when we traded a mid-to-late 1st for Ibaka during the Lowry-DeRozan era. He didn’t make us a contender but he addressed team needs and made us more competitive trying to get to the conference finals. I don’t believe a single player available where the pick landed (25) has shown they could contribute anything close to what Serge did in his role with us.

We have FVV-Siakam now with arguably a better supporting cast. You can’t expect someone drafted at 15-23 to contribute much in their first (or even second) year so trading the pick to fill roster gaps now isn’t an unreasonable use of assets if who you acquire makes you more competitive.

That’s the question: Would [player] make the team more competitive in the playoffs this year and next year? Keep in mind that I think that “competitive” means getting to the ECF; trading a pick to help you get out of the first round doesn’t make much sense.

[OakleyDokely]

PG FVV
SG OG
SF Barnes
PF Siakam
C Turner
6th GTj + Boucher+Precious
2x DPOY-type players in Turner&OG with 3x All Defensive-team-type players in FVV, Pascal and GTj and a budding one in Scottie
4x 20pt scorers with 2x 15pts scorers in Turner and Scottie.
How many teams would have that kind of combination?

The choice should be clear to everyone.

I think Turner's defensive reputation is overstated because of his blocks. He doesn't impact the defensive end like Gobert or even J Allen. Centers are currently shooting 54.5% against him. He also isn't as switchable as the guys he'd be replacing so you'd be losing there.

In a lot of matchups, he probably won't even be in closing lineups ahead of Barnes or GTJ.

Plus, he's already making big money and will probably looking for an even bigger contract after next year.

Pass from me.

[KP730]

Read on Twitter

The finish line is within sight, and the pace is picking up.

The preparation for the NBA trade deadline begins months in advance. The league is canvassed. Moves discussed at the draft are revisited. Trade structures rigged up a year ago are resurfaced and tweaked.

This goes on all season. About two weeks out from the Feb. 10 deadline lists get narrowed and possibilities get crossed off, the focus tightens to about 10 teams where there is a potential fit and a connection is conceivable, if not plausible.

By the week of the deadline the focus grows narrower still, with on-going discussions taking place between pods of five or six teams. It’s generally from those conversations that trades get solidified.

It doesn’t mean a deal happens. When the moment comes and one team or both get shy, the deal remains nothing more than conversation.

All of which to say is the Toronto Raptors likely have a good feel for what kind of roster moves they can make between now and 3 p.m. on Thursday.


Will it come down to the wire?

Probably, just because it almost always does. Most executives don’t want to commit too soon on the slim chance that it could preclude them from getting in on a late-emerging opportunity, or in case a deal they like better moves from the back burner to the front and they’ve missed their chance by acting too soon.

But there is a quiet confidence that they are well-positioned to make a deal that will help their red-hot club – winners of five straight and 14-6 in their last 20 starts and suddenly in sixth place and out of the play-in tournament – both this season and in the future.

The tools at their disposal – Goran Dragic’s expiring contract, a basket of future first and second-round picks as well as some players on rookie deals or even Chris Boucher and his expiring contract – haven’t changed, but their position has strengthened on a couple of fronts

Two noteworthy deals have already gone down: on Friday the Portland Trail Blazers gave up two good players (Norm Powell and Robert Covington) to the Los Angeles Clippers for a return centring on a second-round pick and the rights to an unproven rookie taken late in the first round last summer, and on Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers landed Caris Lavert from Indiana for Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract, a lottery-protected first and two seconds, essentially.

The moves give a pretty good indication that the Raptors plan to land a quality rotation player for Dragic’s expiring contract and a first-round pick seems to be on solid footing.

It’s likely looking even better now that the Cavaliers have moved early. With Rubio’s deal and all their picks as well as pending restricted free agent Collin Sexton, the Cavaliers could likely have matched or trumped most Raptors offers.

With them having played their cards, Toronto’s position likely has only improved.

The Raptors also have the benefit of their own hard-earned upward trajectory. It would be a mistake for them not to extract some value from Dragic’s deal, but they’re not desperate.

They’ve learned so much about their team in the past month, their past week even.

VanVleet focused on core players improving rather than adding help at deadline
Heading into the season it was a question how a team that lacked size at centre; lacked a back-up point guard – or at least one that head coach Nick Nurse was comfortable using – and had only two proven three-point threats could compete.

The answer, it turns out, is very well.

“Every team you get, there’s challenges to try to figure out how to piece them together and how they're going to work and how to how to maximize what they can do together,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “… It's definitely challenging but it's OK. I just want to see this group progress. I think guys are getting better individually. I think the team chemistry and the work has been solid and if that continues to improve then we will have a chance almost any night we step out there to do something good.”

In that light, the Raptors don’t have to do anything, but they are in a wonderful position to be able to do something for almost nothing. This time last season the Raptors were trying to decide to trade a franchise icon in Kyle Lowry or a locker room mainstay in Powell. It was intense.

This time around the Raptors believe they can add a player simply by being willing to take on future money for Dragic’s expiring $19.4 million deal – so, for free, basically.

Dragic himself is a wild card. Sources say that the veteran combo guard – who requested leave from the team in November citing disappointment with his role and an urgent family matter – wants to play again this season. The reason he’s been posting videos of his workouts in Miami is to answer questions about if he was contemplating retirement. The 35-year-old wants to play providing he can find the right fit, with winning a priority. The most likely scenario is finding that opportunity after the trade deadline via a buyout, however.

From the article:

“ The sense is they’re more likely to drill down on finding a play-making wing that can shoot, rather than simply a shooter or another big. They’re willing to keep playing with undersized fives and oversized wings and see how far it takes them.”

Given Grange is reporting this, looks like we getting a big!

[Ell Curry]

PG FVV
SG OG
SF Barnes
PF Siakam
C Turner
6th GTj + Boucher+Precious
2x DPOY-type players in Turner&OG with 3x All Defensive-team-type players in FVV, Pascal and GTj and a budding one in Scottie
4x 20pt scorers with 2x 15pts scorers in Turner and Scottie.
How many teams would have that kind of combination?

The choice should be clear to everyone.

I think Turner's defensive reputation is overstated because of his blocks. He doesn't impact the defensive end like Gobert or even J Allen. Centers are currently shooting 54.5% against him. He also isn't as switchable as the guys he'd be replacing so you'd be losing there.

In a lot of lineups, he probably won't even be in closing lineups ahead of Barnes or GTJ.

Yeah, I'd rather move down 15 picks (our 1st for Orlando's 2nd) and get a 23 year old Mo Bamba with RFA rights then trade a first for Turner. Though maybe we think some team like Detroit or San Antonio would offer Bamba 60/3 and we definitely wouldn't want to match that.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I still don't do it and dont think management will by thursday. I'm not giving up 15-23rd pick in the draft at this stage and with us pretty much set with the starting 5. If we had a major need at SG say, and there was a guy like Gary out there, then that's a different story. We have the 5 peices. Just need to keep growing and adding through the draft. As I said, a small skid and going back to the play in spots is very much a possibility... adding that to a first round loss, and a FRP is vital at this stage.

I don't think it will be for lack of effort. It's been reported for about a month now that the FRP is being shopped with Dragic. They have a major need for bench depth, and adding one quality piece will help give them coverage over existing young pieces and take minutes off of Fred and Siakam's workload.

[douggood]

I still don't do it and dont think management will by thursday. I'm not giving up 15-23rd pick in the draft at this stage and with us pretty much set with the starting 5. If we had a major need at SG say, and there was a guy like Gary out there, then that's a different story. We have the 5 peices. Just need to keep growing and adding through the draft. As I said, a small skid and going back to the play in spots is very much a possibility... adding that to a first round loss, and a FRP is vital at this stage.

The current situation is akin to when we traded a mid-to-late 1st for Ibaka during the Lowry-DeRozan era. He didn’t make us a contender but he addressed team needs and made us more competitive trying to get to the conference finals. I don’t believe a single player available where the pick landed (25) has shown they could contribute anything close to what Serge did in his role with us.

We have FVV-Siakam now with arguably a better supporting cast. You can’t expect someone drafted at 15-23 to contribute much in their first (or even second) year so trading the pick to fill roster gaps now isn’t an unreasonable use of assets if who you acquire makes you more competitive.

That’s the question: Would [player] make the team more competitive in the playoffs this year and next year? Keep in mind that I think that “competitive” means getting to the ECF; trading a pick to help you get out of the first round doesn’t make much sense.

you are remembering it wrong, ibaka and tucker were traded for and looked as the final piece; we had made the ECF finals the year before.
the serge ibaka trade was done after the raptors had failed in playoffs 3-4 years.

plus the raptors had tons of depth back then, were 2 deep at every position, jv + rookie poeltl at c, pascal and delon, fvv lowry cujo traded for pj tucker.

we are in the early phase of that raptors rebuild, not the final phase.

[Zeno]

I feel like something is going to happen but Michael "It's on the 1 yard line" Grange saying so gives me pause.

[ash_k]

PG FVV
SG OG
SF Barnes
PF Siakam
C Turner
6th GTj + Boucher+Precious
2x DPOY-type players in Turner&OG with 3x All Defensive-team-type players in FVV, Pascal and GTj and a budding one in Scottie
4x 20pt scorers with 2x 15pts scorers in Turner and Scottie.
How many teams would have that kind of combination?

The choice should be clear to everyone.

I think Turner's defensive reputation is overstated because of his blocks. He doesn't impact the defensive end like Gobert or even J Allen. Centers are currently shooting 54.5% against him. He also isn't as switchable as the guys he'd be replacing so you'd be losing there.

In a lot of matchups, he probably won't even be in closing lineups ahead of Barnes or GTJ.

Plus, he's already making big money and will probably looking for an even bigger contract after next year.

Pass from me.

He is not at the level of Rudy defensively, but his stretching ability 'balances' the comparison out.

With Turner in our lineup, it is about the threat in opposition's players' mind, it won't just be about beating our top perimeter defenders:They will have to keep an eye on that lengthy shotblocker waiting for them thus enhancing our team defense. The spacing with Barnes&Pascal.
My closing lineup would still be with GTj as long it is not Philly, Chi and Miami (and Milwaukee depending on Brook's situation) out there.

[Raptors_128]

Read on Twitter

The finish line is within sight, and the pace is picking up.

The preparation for the NBA trade deadline begins months in advance. The league is canvassed. Moves discussed at the draft are revisited. Trade structures rigged up a year ago are resurfaced and tweaked.

This goes on all season. About two weeks out from the Feb. 10 deadline lists get narrowed and possibilities get crossed off, the focus tightens to about 10 teams where there is a potential fit and a connection is conceivable, if not plausible.

By the week of the deadline the focus grows narrower still, with on-going discussions taking place between pods of five or six teams. It’s generally from those conversations that trades get solidified.

It doesn’t mean a deal happens. When the moment comes and one team or both get shy, the deal remains nothing more than conversation.

All of which to say is the Toronto Raptors likely have a good feel for what kind of roster moves they can make between now and 3 p.m. on Thursday.


Will it come down to the wire?

Probably, just because it almost always does. Most executives don’t want to commit too soon on the slim chance that it could preclude them from getting in on a late-emerging opportunity, or in case a deal they like better moves from the back burner to the front and they’ve missed their chance by acting too soon.

But there is a quiet confidence that they are well-positioned to make a deal that will help their red-hot club – winners of five straight and 14-6 in their last 20 starts and suddenly in sixth place and out of the play-in tournament – both this season and in the future.

The tools at their disposal – Goran Dragic’s expiring contract, a basket of future first and second-round picks as well as some players on rookie deals or even Chris Boucher and his expiring contract – haven’t changed, but their position has strengthened on a couple of fronts

Two noteworthy deals have already gone down: on Friday the Portland Trail Blazers gave up two good players (Norm Powell and Robert Covington) to the Los Angeles Clippers for a return centring on a second-round pick and the rights to an unproven rookie taken late in the first round last summer, and on Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers landed Caris Lavert from Indiana for Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract, a lottery-protected first and two seconds, essentially.

The moves give a pretty good indication that the Raptors plan to land a quality rotation player for Dragic’s expiring contract and a first-round pick seems to be on solid footing.

It’s likely looking even better now that the Cavaliers have moved early. With Rubio’s deal and all their picks as well as pending restricted free agent Collin Sexton, the Cavaliers could likely have matched or trumped most Raptors offers.

With them having played their cards, Toronto’s position likely has only improved.

The Raptors also have the benefit of their own hard-earned upward trajectory. It would be a mistake for them not to extract some value from Dragic’s deal, but they’re not desperate.

They’ve learned so much about their team in the past month, their past week even.

VanVleet focused on core players improving rather than adding help at deadline
Heading into the season it was a question how a team that lacked size at centre; lacked a back-up point guard – or at least one that head coach Nick Nurse was comfortable using – and had only two proven three-point threats could compete.

The answer, it turns out, is very well.

“Every team you get, there’s challenges to try to figure out how to piece them together and how they're going to work and how to how to maximize what they can do together,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “… It's definitely challenging but it's OK. I just want to see this group progress. I think guys are getting better individually. I think the team chemistry and the work has been solid and if that continues to improve then we will have a chance almost any night we step out there to do something good.”

In that light, the Raptors don’t have to do anything, but they are in a wonderful position to be able to do something for almost nothing. This time last season the Raptors were trying to decide to trade a franchise icon in Kyle Lowry or a locker room mainstay in Powell. It was intense.

This time around the Raptors believe they can add a player simply by being willing to take on future money for Dragic’s expiring $19.4 million deal – so, for free, basically.

Dragic himself is a wild card. Sources say that the veteran combo guard – who requested leave from the team in November citing disappointment with his role and an urgent family matter – wants to play again this season. The reason he’s been posting videos of his workouts in Miami is to answer questions about if he was contemplating retirement. The 35-year-old wants to play providing he can find the right fit, with winning a priority. The most likely scenario is finding that opportunity after the trade deadline via a buyout, however.

From the article:

“ The sense is they’re more likely to drill down on finding a play-making wing that can shoot, rather than simply a shooter or another big. They’re willing to keep playing with undersized fives and oversized wings and see how far it takes them.”

Given Grange is reporting this, looks like we getting a big!

That sounds like Bogdanovic.

[Zeno]

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From the article:

“ The sense is they’re more likely to drill down on finding a play-making wing that can shoot, rather than simply a shooter or another big. They’re willing to keep playing with undersized fives and oversized wings and see how far it takes them.”

Given Grange is reporting this, looks like we getting a big!

That sounds like Bogdanovic.

That sounds like Eric Gordon to me. But I wouldn't want to give up a first for him given his age. Maybe if they would throw in Tate as well, it makes sense.