It’s been over a week since the NBA trade deadline, where the Toronto Raptors made some moves during the trade deadline by trading away Norman Powell, Matt Thomas, and Terence Davis. In return, they got Gary Trent Jr., Rodney Hood, and two future second-round picks. Unfortunately, Aron Baynes remained with the team.
Despite that reshuffling, the team is currently on a four-game losing streak while sitting at the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-30. They still technically have a chance to be in the playoffs. But there is one issue that the Raptors haven’t fixed yet. They still need a center.
Despite having good perimeter defenders in the starting lineup, their defense is bad. That’s because they don’t have a center that’s not their anchor. Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol were the anchors last season. And since they don’t have them this year, the defense suffered.
Ibaka could’ve been a Raptor right now and the team would at least be in the playoff hunt. Raptors president Masai Ujiri didn’t give the offer that Ibaka wanted. If he stayed, he would have gotten a similar contract to what the Los Angeles Clippers gave him.
The contract that Ibaka has right now is two years, $18 million with a player option. The rumored offer that Ujiri wanted to give Ibaka is one year, $12 million. You can see why Ibaka went to the Clippers instead of staying with the Raptors.
The Raptors offered Serge Ibaka a 1-year, $12M deal, reports @MikeAScotto — Ibaka declined, and joined the Clippers on a 2-year, $19M deal.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 22, 2020
The Toronto Raptors need a center ASAP
On the other hand, Ujriri wanted to keep as much cap space as possible to potentially get Giannis Antetokounmpo in the offseason. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. At the time, it made sense, but that decision hurt the team. Getting Baynes to replace Ibaka didn’t help either.
Baynes was at least supposed to contain the defense for the team. He didn’t do that. It’s safe to say that Baynes has been a bust this season despite having some good moments whenever he comes off the bench.
Alex Len is another guy that supposed to help fill the void from that center spot. Not only that didn’t work out, but he’s also not with the team anymore. Len was waived earlier this year and he is playing with the Washington Wizards now.
After cutting Len, the Raptors did not find a replacement. Fans thought they would get a center at the trade deadline. That would have been the perfect opportunity, especially with guys like Andre Drummond and JaVale McGee available.
They missed out on good centers at the trade deadline. They can still get centers because there are some available because they are free agents right now, but Drummond, DeMarcus Cousins, and LaMarcus Aldridge signed with other teams. Who is even out there?
Potential centers that the Toronto Raptors could get
So anyway, raptors need a center and the deadline has passed
— William Lou (@william_lou) March 27, 2021
Jordan Bell is an undersized center currently hooping for the G League Erie BayHawks. He’s not going to be the anchor like Ibaka, but he can beef up the defense, finish inside, and block shots. That can be very useful for the team.
John Henson can be another option for the Raptors. They can use his rim-protecting ability and blocking shots. Adding Henson lets Baynes be a backup. It also lets Chris Boucher do his thing without having the responsibility to guard the center.
Another guy that can help the Raptors is Dewayne Dedmon. He can help the team on the defensive end because he is kind of a poor man’s version of Serge Ibaka, blocking shots and shooting the ball beyond the 3-point line.
Ujiri dropped the ball by lowballing Ibaka. That hurt the team this season because the Toronto Raptors do not have their anchor on the defensive end anymore.
Snce Ujiri could not add a center that can fill the void, the team looks like they’re heading to the lottery even though they can still make it to the playoffs.