Raptors beef up their defence
Masai Ujiri doesn’t always get his man. It just feels that way.
Take the just expired NBA trade deadline for example.
Ujiri went in with a specific shopping list. He needed a power forward who could come in and restore some of the physical clout to a lineup that had lost that with the departure of Bismack Biyombo not to mention rim protection and the veteran defensive savvy he brought.
Not only did he check all those boxes with the acquisition of Serge Ibaka from Orlando, he got a guy who will actually stretch the floor from his position offensively meaning less pressure on Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan going forward. You couldn’t ask that of Biyombo.
Had Ujiri managed just that lone deal, no one would consider the upgrade anything less than a significant boost.
But then mere minutes before the 3 p. m. deadline word arrived, as it always does in the form of an Adrian Wojnarowski tweet, Ujiri did it again, this time adding the physically gifted P. J. Tucker from the Phoenix Suns to the fold.
Like Ibaka, Tucker is a physical presence when he’s on the floor unafraid to bang with the biggest and baddest of them and an ability to step outside like Ibaka and force defences to spread themselves thinner than they would like, again opening space for the likes of Lowry and DeRozan.
The total cost for those two acquisitions was a longdistance scoring threat in Terrence Ross who was coming off the bench for the Raptors, the lesser of the two first round picks the Raptors own in the upcoming draft (their own and the Clippers pick), a barely used Jared Sullinger and two second round picks in 2017 and 2018.
You may not be able to wipe the smile off head coach Dwane Casey’s face until the playoffs arrive.
The Ibaka deal got done early but the Tucker addit i on c ame r i ght at t he deadline. The belief all day Thursday was t he Suns would hold out for a firstround pick but when Ujiri and his management team l ed by GM Jeff Weltman wouldn’t budge and t he Suns couldn’t find anyone else to go that high, Ujiri got his man at his price.
That’s two defensive difference makers, Ibaka who will start and Tucker who will come off the bench, for a team that even a week ago had no answers for how they were going to re- locate that defensive culture that had been missing almost all season.
Suddenly t hanks to a couple of shrewd deals, that defence looks primed once again to take the Raptors on another long playoff run.
AND THE REST OF THE EAST WATCHES
There was a very real chance that the Raptors, regardless of what they accomplished, would still be hoping just to keep pace if the trade chatter was at all correct.
With a pair of all- stars there to be had in the form of Indiana’s Paul George and Chicago’s Jimmy Butler, the concern was, and it was a real concern, that the Boston Celtics, the team the Raptors will be chasing for second in the East throughout the remainder of the schedule, were poised to add one of those game-changing players.
Boston, owners of Brooklyn’s first overall pick which will be in the high lottery if not first overall depending on how the ping- pong balls land, did not get either deal done either because they didn’t offer that particular pick or refused to sweeten it much more than that.
Either way it meant an easy overall win for the Raptors within the East as far as deadline deals go.
WASHINGTON ADDS DEPTH
Of the four teams — Toronto, the Washington Wizards, Celtics, and Atlanta Hawks — vying for second place in the East — the next best move in t he group might have come from the Wizards.
Washington added threepoint bomber Bojan Bogdanovic which should address some of their bench scoring concerns. It cost the Wizards Andrew Nicholson and Mar- cus Thornton and a secondround pick but Bogdanovic is shooting 35.7 per cent from three but is a career 36.6 per cent shooter from that distance. Washington was desperate for some offence from its second unit and Bogdanovic fits the bill.
The Atlanta Hawks also made a depth move acquiri ng Ersan Ilyasova f rom Philly in exchange for centre Tiago Splitter and two future second round picks. Ilyasova, like Bogdanovic, will be an immediate upgrade on the Hawks’ bench.
CHICAGO GETS YOUNGER
The Chicago Bulls may have done Toronto a favour sending Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to Oklahoma City in exchange for point guard Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Anthony Morrow. Payne is the key with the Bulls looking for answers at the point guard position. They will miss Gibson’s toughness not to mention Raptors- killer McDermott.
AND MORE DEALS
Former lottery pick Nerlens Noel is on the move to Dallas from Philadelphia in exchange for forward Justin Anderson, centre Andrew Bogut — who is expected to be bought out and become a free agent — and a future first- round pick that is protected enough that it will eventually morph into two future second- round picks. Noel is a talent, albeit one with a checkered injury past in a very short NBA career. Anderson is a guy who has piqued a lot of interest in spurts and could be a keeper for years to come … Brampton native Tyler Ennis heads from Houston to Los Angeles joining the Lakers for point guard Marcelo Huertas … Bogut could still land in either Boston or Cleveland after his buyout is completed which would obviously impact the Raptors although that will be cleared up in the coming days.