Trade or no trade? Raptors in a hoops huddle
Ujiri and Webster facing questions as deadline looms
TORONTO — Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, general manager Bobby Webster and a handful of front office personnel, advisers and scouts were huddled Wednesday at the team’s practice facility.
They were all trying to figure out what, if anything, they need to pursue before Thursday’s 3 p.m. National Basketball Association trade deadline.
While they mulled possibilities, teams above and below Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings, made moves ahead of the deadline.
Philadelphia added forward Tobias Harris, a fringe Western Conference all-star from the Los Angeles Clippers and now have a formidable starting five of Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, Jimmy Butler, Harris and Joel Embiid.
The cost was substantial — promising rookie Landry Shamet and four draft picks that include a 2021 unprotected first-rounder from Miami — but the Sixers seem all-in on taking a run at the East this year.
And the conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks picked up a depth piece in Stanley Johnson from Detroit in a swap for the seldom-used Thon Maker.
The Boston Celtics, seen as the other Big Four team in the East, remained on the sidelines of trade talks.
And the Raptors?
League and industry sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the delicate and ever-changing nature of trade negotiations, continued to insist late Wednesday afternoon that it was far less likely the Raptors would pull off a deal.
The Raptors did make one inconsequential money-saving move, shipping seldom-used Malachi Richardson and a 2022 protected second-round pick to Philadelphia for the rights to Emir Preldzic.
It will not shift the balance of power in the conference but it does create a roster spot that the Raptors will have to fill within in 14 days.
The roster has needs — three-point shooting and depth in rim protection would be high on the “want” list. But there doesn’t seem to be anything available that would address the needs without taking away from assets and long-term possibilities Ujiri and Webster have been accruing for years.
The players, who are far more in tune with what’s going on with the team and around the league than anyone else, understand the process. And they understand that, for the most part, nothing substantial happens on deadline day.
“Listen we go out there and do our jobs at the end of the day,” said Kyle Lowry, who’s been traded twice in his career. “We go out and do that with what we have and who we have.”
Any transactions would have a significant impact on coach Nick Nurse, who would have to find a way to integrate new rotation players into what’s been an injury-induced fluctuating group all year.
But he also knows that’s just part of the business. He’s kept abreast of chatter as much as he can but he’s got enough on is plate without getting into the nitty-gritty of trade talks.
He doesn’t to have to calm a veteran group that’s been through countless trade deadline rumour fests. He’s got games to worry about.
“It usually happens fairly fast and they’ll usually give us a little bit of an inkling when there’s stuff out there,” he said of the contact he’d have with the front office before the Raptors played the Los Angeles Clippers last weekend. “It’s not like we’re pouring over it 10 or 12 hours, I’m doing my job here.
“I’ve got nothing to really think about other than this game here that’s going to go off in about two hours.