Toronto goes all-in with deal for Gasol
Deadline blockbuster brings in game-changer Gasol for Valanciunas, Wright and Miles
The Raptors made a big splash at the trade deadline, sending Jonas Valanciunus, inset left, C.J. Miles and Delon Wright to Memphis for Marc Gasol.
It is without question the biggest deadline-day trade in Toronto Raptors history, a move that signifies even more the franchise’s all-in assault on an NBA final appearance this year.
Team president Masai Ujiri, mindful of a window closing on this roster of soonto-be free agents, obtained veteran centre Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in a dramatic shakeup to his roster.
The cost was steep — still-young centre Jonas Valanciunas, slump-ridden C.J. Miles, free-agent-to-be guard Delon Wright along with a 2024 second-round draft pick — but with Eastern Conference rivals making substantial moves of their own, Ujiri could not wait.
The Raptors made a second deal, as well. They moved backup centre Greg Monroe and a second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for cash.
“I think we added a player that’s very savvy,” Ujiri said when the deal was finally made official, more than six hours after the 3 p.m. deadline. “In the playoffs you need experience going forward. You need a really strong basketball mind, toughness, you need size, you need shooting from outside, basketball IQ. Everything you could combine, he combines it all.”
Gasol is a two-time all-NBA selection, a three-time all-star and the 2013 defensive player of the year, and while not as spry or as effective at 34 years old as he was at 28, he is still a formidable presence. He’s known as one of the best passing big men in the league and should thrive working at the elbow in Toronto’s offence.
“He’s one of the best (centres) in the league for a long time now,” Fred VanVleet told reporters in Atlanta, where the short-handed Raptors beat the Hawks 119-101. “A perennial all-star, defensive player of the year, so just really excited to see how we can acclimate him to what we do and see how much he can give us a boost. Obviously we are very excited about that.”
Gasol is expected to be in Toronto for a physical on Friday, and should join the Raptors in New York on Saturday.
“I’ve talked to Marc. He’s really excited to be here and this is, I think, exciting for us going forward as we move to all of us trying to achieve a dream of contending for a championship in the NBA,” Ujiri said. “That’s our goal and I think everybody on the team understands that, and we’ll keep trying to achieve that goal.”
With the seismic move — the most significant draft-day trade in franchise history and one of the most important overall — the Raptors were able to keep pace with other big movers atop the Eastern Conference.
The East-leading Milwaukee Bucks made an equally important trade when they got versatile big man Nikola Mirotic from the New Orleans Pelicans for a package that included four second-round draft picks. A solid three-point shooter, Mirotic should be a crucial addition to the Bucks paired with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Philadelphia 76ers had started the conference arms race when they obtained Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this week.
The deals leave the Raptors with a paper-thin roster as they move to the buyout market to get to the league-mandated level of 13 players. They currently have 10 under contract — Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka, Gasol, VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Norm Powell and Patrick McCaw — plus Chris Boucher and Jordan Loyd on twoway deals.
Ujiri and Webster have to fill out the roster in the next 13 days, and have already had contact with “a few” players who have been either waived or bought out of existing deals.
Toronto does have a commodity that’s quite interesting to potential additions: playing time. With only two centres on the roster and two bench regulars in Wright and Miles gone, there will be minutes to offer.
Predictable names will be bandied about, Miami’s Wayne Ellington and New York’s Wesley Matthews among them, and others will emerge when buyouts are complete.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of agents,” Ujiri said. “I know that Bobby (Webster) and Dan (Tolzman, director of player personnel) have spoken to a lot of agents. I personally have spoken to three or four agents (about) specific guys. “Some buyouts are done, some are not done. Some players are waived, some have not been. We just have to be aggressive and also be patient and play it by the books and wait until we can do anything.”
The departure of Valanciunas came hours before he was supposed to return from a 25-game injury absence due to a dislocated thumb and subsequent surgery. The 26-year-old has spent his entire career with the Raptors after being drafted fifth overall in 2011. The native of Lithuania grew to love the city and the country and said Thursday morning he had no desire to leave, even if rumours were swirling.
“Experience does that for you,” Valanciunas told reporters in Atlanta on Thursday morning. “I have been in rumours so many times I don’t even look at it. I just know one thing: We have a good team. We have a good future in front of us for this season, so I just want to go on the court and play ball and win the games. That is what I want to do. I love Toronto and I want to stay there.”
But what athletes want and they get are often mutually ex- clusive. It doesn’t make the job of shipping them out any easier for the team executives who hold such sway over their lives.
Losing Miles and Wright will be less significant from a basketball standpoint, but they were respected teammates whose presence will be missed in the locker room.
Miles has been mired in a season-long slump, but had shown flashes of breaking out of it, and Wright has a creativity and feel for the game that’s unique, even if he had been inconsistent.
Coach Nick Nurse has yet to comment on whether he’d consider splitting the starting centre role between Ibaka and Gasol, like he did between Ibaka and Valanciunas depending on matchups. But Gasol’s passing and deep shooting skills should allow him to fit seamlessly into a motion offence, and having him direct plays with the ball from the elbow could be a formidable plan of attack.