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Greivis Vasquez traded, Delon Wright drafted – on same night

By Brian Boake

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The timing of Greivis Vasquez’s trade from the Toronto Raptors was not a coincidence. Announced unofficially moments before it was the team’s turn at the podium on Draft Night, the deal was the first part of a tactic designed to upgrade the point guard position. General Manager Masai Ujiri was no doubt concerned that another team would “poach” Delon Wright prior to the Raps selecting at #20, thus upsetting the applecart dramatically. One wonders in passing, but we’ll never know, if Greivis would have been moved had Wright been chosen earlier.

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Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Justise Winslow (bottom) battles for a loose ball against Utah Utes guard Delon Wright (top) during the first half in the semifinals of the south regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

I think Masai has convinced the moneymen at MLSE that drafting a player without having a proper place for him to play is utter folly. How much further advanced would Bruno Caboclo be if he had spent last year in the D-League? Instead he practiced with the big team, and watched games in street clothes, a taller Drake. In the case of Wright, Masai moved Greivis because he wanted Delon to earn a chance to play serious minutes. He couldn’t do so if he were third on the depth chart, relegated to mop-up duty behind Kyle Lowry and Greivis. Alternatively Delon might have pushed Greivis aside, at which point we have an unhappy (and chatty!) veteran – not what you need in the dressing room. Delon is 23 years old, and should be capable of contributing to the big team without a spell in the minors.

The payment the Raptors received from the Milwaukee Bucks was hardly noteworthy. The Bucks selected Norman Powell at #46, then threw him into the deal (that’s how it’s listed at the NBA site, anyway), plus the Raptors get a first-rounder in 2017. That pick was the Los Angeles Clippers’, but became the Bucks’ in a trade. It’s lottery-protected, which is a risk for the Raps. We get L.A.’s pick only if they aren’t in the draft lottery. Assuming they don’t fall apart, we should be OK; otherwise, we’re the proud owners of the Clippers’ 2020 & 2021 second-rounders. Paaaaaar-ty!

Masai now has more money to play with, and that’s probably of greater significance to him than Norman Powell and the draft pick somewhere in the mists. By dumping Greivis, Masai has lost some 3-point shooting, but has “found” $6.6M in salary cap space. Sure, some of that will go to Delon, but he’s still far cheaper than Greivis. Adding Wright while subtracting Vasquez makes the team younger, cheaper and better defensively. Whether all that is of greater value than the loss of a well-liked and capable veteran cannot be determined yet.

We’ll take a look at Norman Powell shortly.

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