Jimmy Butler isn’t worth the price for the Toronto Raptors
Finally, there is no guarantee that Butler would stay in Toronto beyond next season.
In a vacuum, any of the suggested trade packages don’t kill the Raptors long-term. The team has a deep bench. Giving up Anunoby or Siakam and a future first round pick for a top-15 player seems like a no-brainer.
But keep in mind that the Raptors already gave up Jakob Poeltl and a top-20 protected pick in 2019 to get Leonard. If Leonard and Butler both leave in free agency, the Raptors will be forced to enter a rebuild without much in the way of young talent or draft picks.
The Nets serve as a cautionary tale for what can happen when a team decides to mortgage its future. It has taken the Nets years to dig themselves out of the hole that was created by the Garnett/Pierce trade. Do the Raptors want to risk being in a similar position?
Ujiri has said all the right things about whether Leonard will stay in Toronto beyond this season. Danny Green recently said on his podcast Inside the Green Room that Leonard will have a hard time turning down the City of Toronto after being here.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN also reported that the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and the Raptors are Leonard’s top choices for next season. This has given Raptors’ fans hope that Leonard might actually stay. But Woj continues to report that the Clippers remain Leonard’s preference for next season.
Next. Weighing the merits of a Jimmy Butler trade. dark
Ujiri is generally conservative in his approach to team building. Without some kind of assurance that Leonard and Butler will resign, it simply doesn’t make sense for the Raptors to trade for Butler.
Stats were provided by NBA.com. Spotrac.com and Basketball-Reference.com salary pages were used in the creation of this post.