Raptors Trade Value Report

I was planning on doing this trade value article for awhile now, but have been putting it off for a variety of the usual reason s, but I was going through my email and the person/people at www.whatwouldoakleydo.com asked me to contribute to their NBA Trade Value column on the Raptors side of things.

I was given the general rundown of the gameplan, taking Bill Simmons’ annual trade value column and giving it to the people and seeing where it would end up.

I for one am honored to be a part of this project because for one, I don’t get invited to a lot of these, and two it gave me some motivation to actually get this article done.

So let’s get to it.

Raptors on Simmons’ preemptive list:

• Andrea Bargnani (Outside looking in)

Well this gives me almost nothing to work with as Simmons clearly has slighted the Raptors roster as only Bargs makes the “list” and even he is an honorable mention.

Raptors who crack MY list:

• Andrea Bargnani (Outside looking in)
• Demar DeRozan (48)
• Ed Davis (Outside Looking In)

First Bargnani stays as an outside looking in guy, due to his defensive shortcomings and his poor rebounding. This combined with his multiple year contract sinks his trade value a tad.

DeRozan cracks the Top 50 easily in my opinion, and I am shocked Simmons did not include him in his list. Demar is a one and done second year player who has shown clearly that he has untapped potential and can be a scorer on any team in the league. He jumps Derek Favors (48 on the Simmons list) giving him the 48th spot on the top 50.

Ed Davis grabs a Honorable Mention based on the people Simmons put on his list. If Greg Monroe and DeAndre Jordan are on his list, surely Ed Davis qualifies. Davis recovered from an early season injury and has shown his worth as a defender/rebounder as well as a dude who can throw down from time to time. Monroe and DeAndre Jordan are solid post players, and I think Ed Davis belongs in that tier of young post prospects.

Rest of the Raptors

The Asset

• Leandro Barbosa

Barbosa has a expiring deal (Player Option) at $7 Million. If the Raptors are to put together a deal at the deadline to shake things up, Barbosa or Calderon likely will be the major piece of that deal. Barbosa would be valuable to a variety of teams for his speed and veteran leadership (Think Knicks, Pacers, 76ers) and could be traded to a team looking for experience in the playoffs.

I would not be shocked if I heard trade rumours in the coming weeks involving Leandro Barbosa, but there is about a 25% chance that the Raptors will even make a trade at the deadline so Barbosa likely will be staying.

Bad Contracts

• Jose Calderon
• Amir Johnson
• Linas Klezia

Jose and Amir both would be tradeable role players if their contracts didn’t price them out. Klezia is a MLE with injury problems so his contract also falls into the albatross category. If the Raptors are to trade one of these three it would be Calderon as the Bobcats showed interest in him during the summer.

Role Players

• Julian Wright
• Sonny Weems
• Joey Dorsey
• Jerryd Bayless

Of the four Weems is probably the least valuable as he does not seem like an asset to a contenders bench or valuable to a team trying to rebuild. Bayless seems as if he is here to stay, but has shown glimpses of a solid Sixth Man point guard this year when healthy.

Wright and Dorsey bring hustle and defense off of the bench, making them tradeable assets if the Raptors are to make a move. Wright’s two million dollar contract makes him a pricey 10th man stopper.

The Rest

• Reggie Evans
• Alexis Ajinca

Evans is untradeable due to his injury, but is a five million dollar expiring contract to a team looking to get into the Melo lottery.

So there you have it, your breakdown of the Raptors roster heading into the deadline. Make sure to check out the “People’s Trade Value List” at www.whatwouldoakleydo.com sometime around the All-Star break.