Revisiting the top 5 trades in Toronto Raptors history
3. Marc Gasol to the Toronto Raptors
If Kawhi Leonard‘s move to the Toronto Raptors is the trade that propelled the team into title contention, their trade for Marc Gasol in February of 2019 is the trade after the trade. Without Gasol anchoring the defense, the Raptors don’t win that title.
There were, predictably, a lot of reservations about the trade initially. Fans were disappointed to see a long-time favourite in the shape of Jonas Valanciunas leave the team. Often underutilized, Valanciunas was in and out of the starting line-up by design, switching roles with Serge Ibaka depending on the matchup, before missing 26 games due to injury.
He wouldn’t play again for the Toronto Raptors. Once Valanciunas was declared healthy and raring to go he was shipped off to the Memphis Grizzlies along with C.J. Miles and Delon Wright, who had both carved out nice roles in the rotation for the Raptors. In return, the Raptors would get only Marc Gasol.
Gasol, who was 33 at the time of the trade, had shown signs of slowing down. At the time, he was averaging a career-high 4.7 assists with the Grizzlies but was stuck on an underperforming, an injury-ridden team. The Grit and Grind era was coming to an end and it seemed as if Gasol’s championship window was closing.
Instead, his impact on the team was immediate. With one of the best passing big men of all-time, the Raptors playmaking greatly improved, they began knocking down more threes and the defense stepped up a notch – that’s where Gasol’s impact was felt the most.
His performances against the likes of Joel Embiid and Nikola Vucevic in the playoffs will go down in folklore. Gasol was able to neutralise the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic’s best players in both series to great effect. Without him, the Raptors might not make it past the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
The final piece of the Raptors title-winning jigsaw puzzle, Marc Gasol’s trade to the Raptors will go down as one of the best in the team’s history.