Ten Best Trades in Toronto Raptors History
By Go Paolo
5. Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes, and John Salmons from Sacramento for Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy, and Aaron Gray – Dec. 9, 2013
This trade worked out a lot better than it looked on paper. Gay was one of the Raptors’ leading scorers and the best player in this deal. But Ujiri was set on rebuilding the franchise and Gay was a necessary casualty.
Gay came over to the Raptors via a desperate trade from Colangelo. While stuffing the stat sheet, he was only putting up empty numbers as he did not help the Raptors improve their record. It’s no coincidence the team suddenly became better following his departure.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan blossomed into their All-Star forms and the Raptors turned into an Eastern powerhouse winning four of the next five Atlantic Division titles.
Gay continued to put up numbers on a Sacramento team that went nowhere while both Acy and Gray only lasted one season with the team.
Out of the acquired players, Vasquez and Patterson would sign extensions and become critical rotation players for the Raptors. Vasquez came up big in the playoffs while Patterson would average 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25.2 minutes off the bench in four seasons with the team.
Salmons was then used in another one of Ujiri’s fantastic deals.