Mulling trade options after Sixers load up
Richardson dealt to Philly, but most observers say Raps unlikely to make a major move
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, trying to figure what — if anything — they need to pursue before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.
While they mulled possibilities, teams above and below Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings made moves.
The Philadelphia 76ers 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, including 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.
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 the Raptors were unlikely to pull off a significant 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 14 days.
The roster has needs — threepoint 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 that 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. They also 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 Lowry, who’s been traded twice in his career. “We go out and do that with what we have and who we have.”
Lowry was dealt from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Houston Rockets in a threeteam swap in 2009, then became a Raptor in 2012 when Toronto shipped Gary Forbes and a first-round pick to Houston.
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 a fluctuating group all year because of injuries.
But he also knows that’s just part of the business. He’s kept abreast of chatter as much as he can, but in the division of basketball responsibilities he’s got enough on his plate without getting into the nitty-gritty of trade talk.
He doesn’t 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, before the Raptors played the Clippers last weekend, about the contact he’d have with the front office. “It’s not like we’re pouring over it 10 or 12 hours. I’m doing my job here.”