Are the Toronto Raptors looking to make a move ahead of the 2016 NBA Draft by trading for Paul Millsap?
Coming off their most successful season in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors may be looking to double down on their success via the trade market. Their target: Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap.
With the Hawks already trading point guard Jeff Teague to the Indiana Pacers (as reported by John Chick of theScore) and Chicago sending oft injured star Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks (theScore’s John Chick again), it only seems appropriate that the Raptors also look to improve their team ahead of Thursday’s Draft. As per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, Toronto might be knocking on Atlanta’s door for the second straight offseason…
Teague out in ATL. Hawks could also lose Horford in FA. If they're selling expect Raptors to call re: Millsap, a player they've long coveted
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) June 22, 2016
… however unwilling Atlanta might initially be at the present…
Raptors had inquired about Millsap at the deadline but were rebuffed, according to a source. Team views him as ideal fit next to Valanciunas
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) June 22, 2016
Toronto’s number one weakness last season was their lack of a true force at the power forward position, and adding Paul Millsap as opposed to utilizing one or both of their first round draft picks tomorrow would prove to be a wiser move for the Raptors.
The most viable trade scenario would be:
Let’s be clear: the Toronto Raptors just won 56 games and were two (2) wins away from the NBA Finals. To add yet another prospect to the roster along with Delon Wright, Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo wouldn’t be advisable. The team can only send two players to the Raptors 905 D-League team at a time, leaving a logjam of inexperienced players on the active and inactive roster.
**20 second time out: I didn’t include Norman Powell in the mix, as he’s shown that that he’s ready for big boy minutes.**
Adding a player like Paul Millsap would most likely take the Raptors out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, however it might be in their best interests not to go after a superstar player (I’ll touch on that in more detail in the future). The dynamic of the roster would suit Millsap and improve the effectiveness of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The former would have a more trustworthy option to pass to in the block and from distance, and the latter would be almost forced to be less ball dominant during the course of a game.
We’ll stay on top of this development as I for one would be happy if the were able to pull this off. And to think, we’re only a few days removed from the NBA Finals…
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All stats are provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise stated. NBA Draft information and stats are provided by NBADraft.net unless otherwise stated. Matthew Allman is a staff writer for Raptors Rapture. For more coverage on the Toronto Raptors, follow Matthew on Twitter @ShadowRapsFan and also follow @RaptorsRapture for the latest in Raptors news.