Toronto Raptors should make risky trade for Victor Oladipo

The Toronto Raptors should seriously consider trading for Victor Oladipo.

The NBA loves to make monster-moves in the off-season and the Toronto Raptors should be at the forefront this year. With one year left in his contract at $21M, Victor Oladipo is one of the most interesting names floating around the rumor mill right now.

Every move the Raptors make for the next year should focus around acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo. Every time they look to sign, trade, or hire someone, they should be asking themselves: “Does this help us get Antetokounmpo?”

So, does acquiring Oladipo get the Raptors closer or further away from bringing the “Greek Freak” north? It 100 percent helps them.

If you look at the Tweet below by @TheHoopCentral, ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that the Milwaukee Bucks are targeting Oladipo. If that rumor becomes a reality, that makes the possibility of Antetokounmpo returning to the Bucks more likely, which obviously hurts the Raptors.

https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1318366435610042369?s=20

Does Oladipo Fit With The Raptors?

The former second-overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft is one of the best guards in the league, when healthy. And that’s the biggest question mark for Oladipo, who pretty recently missed a whole year of basketball rehabbing from a ruptured quadriceps tendon injury.

In 19 games last year, Oladipo had the worst shooting year of his career, averaging 39.4 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from three. He also had his second-lowest season in assists, averaging only 3.8 assists per game. Essentially, he looked like a shell of himself for most of the year, but this is a risk worth taking.

I’m not comparing Oladipo to Kawhi Leonard, but when the Raptors traded for Leonard, he was coming off one of the worst statistical seasons of his career and only played a limited number of games due to injury. There were a ton of question marks about the “Fun Guy” but that risk paid off tremendously.

Also, it’s not like Oladipo is an old-man. He’s only 28-years-old and has a ton of basketball left in him. Despite the uncertainty, where does he fit in the Raptors line-up?

Oladipo is a defense-first player, which fits Nick Nurse’s system very well. Having previously been named to the 2017-18 All-Defensive team, he would be a tremendous addition to the line-up. The one downside would be that by trading for him, it would most likely mean that Serge Ibaka couldn’t return.

Despite, the most likely departure of Ibaka, the Raptors could still have a fun starting-five that looks something like this:

• Kyle Lowry
• Victor Oladipo
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
• OG Anunoby
• Pascal Siakam

Hollis-Jefferson is the only question-mark in this line-up, but he’s been an everyday starter before and could do it again. With Oladipo in here instead of VanVleet, it makes this unit even stronger defensively and tough to play against.

VanVleet and Lowry could rotate in the starting line-up with either coming off the bench to provide offense as well. With Lowry getting older, it may be better to have a rotating point-guard and try to save him for the playoffs, because he plays such a hard-game every night. Overall, the move could be a fun experiment because the 2020-21 season is all about setting yourself up for Antetokounmpo.

This move still makes the Toronto Raptors a very competitive playoff team next year, while giving them salary-cap flexibility, since Oladipo becomes a Free Agent after next season.

I’m all about acquiring as many All-Stars as you can and taking chances. The last time Olapido got traded to a new team, he had the best season of his career. Maybe a change of scenery is all he needs, again.