Raptors do nothing – again – as trade deadline passes
By Brian Boake
The Raptors contributed to the snoozefest which was the final day for NBA trades, by making no deals.
President & General Manager Masai Ujiri of the Toronto Raptors just sat out his second straight NBA trade deadline (emphasis on dead). He wasn’t alone; I’m hard-pressed to recall a day of such inconsequence. The biggest name to move was Markieff Morris, whom the Phoenix Suns actually got value for. While I pitched him as a possible power forward for our team, I’m hardly distraught that Washington has him. I suppose Jeff Green and Lance Stephenson changing teams might have been news a year ago, but barely causes a ripple now. Anyway, Green is a Los Angeles Clipper, while Stephenson and a first-round pick in 2019 move to Memphis. Ho-hum.
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Channing Frye is moving to the Cleveland Cavaliers from Orlando, so the Raptors will need to be cognizant of him when next the teams meet. He’s morphed into a stretch-4, but the Magic couldn’t find minutes for him in that role, and he’s got nothing else to sell.
Am I the only one who finds it offensive that so many teams traded for players whom they immediately waived? Portland received Anderson Varejao and Tim Frazier, who were Trail Blazers for about two hours before being released. DeJuan Blair, who was one of the two players Washington surrendered (Kris Humphries was the other) for Morris, has already been placed on the waiver wire. Jared Cunningham was sent to Orlando in the Frye transaction, and has already been dumped.
Several players have been named as buyout candidates prior to March 1, including ex-Raptor Steve Novak and out-of-favour Nugget J.J. Hickson.
What next: should I comment on how worried the Raptors must be about the Atlanta Hawks now that Kirk Hinrich has been traded there from Chicago for a second-round draft pick?
Let’s put the spotlight back on our team, and ask the obvious question: why didn’t Masai do something to strengthen our roster? Supposedly he was talking to the Brooklyn Nets about Thaddeus Young, but nothing transpired. That’s not a surprising result, since Brooklyn didn’t even have a General Manager until about noon Thursday. Another ex-Raptor, centre Sean Marks, was named le grand fromage and probably didn’t feel like making a deal within an hour of getting the gig. I can’t blame him.
There may be less here than meets the eye. Masai called around, didn’t find any deals he liked (and didn’t have any players he needed to dump, like Phoenix did with Morris) and stayed out of the market. The roster we had is the roster we’ll have, so all the players can relax.
I have no idea what Masai has in mind between now and the NBA Draft of June 26, other than hoping the Raptors make a major push in the playoffs (if they flame out again, Dwane Casey will be thrown overboard as the easy scapegoat). Prior to the draft itself is the lottery on May 17, in which Masai will almost certainly have a keen interest. If the ping-pong balls are friendly, and our team (as a result of the Andrea Bargnani trade, in which Masai acquired the lower ranked of either New York or Denver’s first-rounder) finds itself with a #6 pick, let’s say, things could get interesting indeed. The Raptors may be the only lottery team which doesn’t need a hot draft selection, and will certainly entertain any ideas a rebuilding team might have of dumping what few veteran assets they have and going young.
We’re explore that issue in much greater detail in early May.