Toronto Raptors: Grading all three Raptor trades from the trade deadline

Trade 2: Matt Thomas to Utah, in exchange for a future second-round pick

If I’m being honest right now, I did not expect a trade like this to go down today. Still, it didn’t surprise me either, and it kind of makes sense if you’re the Toronto Raptors. In fact, it helps out Matt Thomas too.

If you’re a Raptors fan, you already know the situation with Thomas and how Nick Nurse barely plays him, basically wasting his amazing 3-point shooting ability. Thomas, who debuted for the Raptors last season has seen a decrease in his minutes played this season and it’s obviously frustrating for a guy like him.

Nurse has made it known to us that Thomas’ defense needs more work and he just barely plays him as a result of that.

Matt Thomas wasn’t doing much for the Raptors

This season he’s played in 26 games and has only averaged 2.6 points per game, 0.8 rebounds per game, and 0.3 assists per game while shooting the ball extremely well from outside. This move to the Jazz, hopefully, gives him more looks coming off the bench in Utah as they could greatly benefit from his shooting ability and help this team continue their dominance this season in the Western Conference.

The Raptors get back what everyone else thought they’d get back for a player like Thomas, a second-round pick. Not a bad return by any means for a guy who only has two years of NBA experience and someone who barely sees any playing time.

Grade: B