The Toronto Raptors made a big splash on trade deadline day, acquiring Marc Gasol for multiple trade assets. Dissecting the trade, how did the Raptors fare?
There was a flurry of deals in the NBA on deadline day this year. With all the moving pieces, the Toronto Raptors got into the action with some transactions of their own. None were bigger than the acquisition of Marc Gasol.
The always astute, Masai Ujiri, along with Bobby Webster, was busy working the phones, seeing what they could extract from executives around the league. In what seemed like cursory deals, they shipped Malachi Richardson (who was almost immediately waived) with their 2022 second-round draft pick and the draft rights to Emir Preldzic to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for cash considerations. They also sent Greg Monroe and the 2021 second-round draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for their second bag of money ($110k) in as many days.
With rival teams improving their roster, the Raptors recognized that an upgrade was needed in order to contend. As it turned out, they discovered Marc Gasol was available.
The Raptors sent the Memphis Grizzlies a package of Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick in exchange for the jewel of the deal, Marc Gasol. Earlier in the week, the Raptors were rumoured to have floated a trade with the Grizzlies for Gasol and point guard Mike Conley in a swap for Kyle Lowry and JV. These reports were refuted and largely believed to be false. It turns out that there may have been some legitimacy.
In making the exchange for Gasol, the Raptors demonstrate that they are pushing all-in on the season. This trade was in preparation for a playoff push that they hope sends them right to the top of the Eastern Conference.
With the right intentions from the front office, was this right move and was it enough?