Raptors: Pass or Pursue 3 early trades that could improve the team
By Jason Mills
The Toronto Raptors 2021-22 season is just a few games old, and Masai Ujiri may already be working on finding a solution to some of their issues. Ujiri and Bobby Webster are never ones to turn their backs on a potential impact addition.
Chief among the concerns for this team is three-point shooting, their lack of size vs. length and wingspan, their halfcourt offense, and experience. The Raptors do have three holdovers from their 2019 NBA title but there are a lot of new faces on the roster.
Several scenarios are developing around the league that could help or hinder the Raptors should they wade into the drama. If Ujiri is in a very risky mood, he could decide to part with some assets in order to swoop up a disgruntled star or potential depth piece on the trade market.
With Toronto in need of some extra size and some more young athletes to add to their big cauldron of athletic skills, will they go after one of these targets?
Should the Toronto Raptors go after these 3 available players?
3. Marvin Bagley III, PF, Sacramento Kings
This deal would bring a 6-11 power forward in Bagley to Toronto. He was the second overall draft choice of the Kings in 2018, and it seems as though his time there has come to an end. After three tumultuous losing seasons in California, Bagley was unable to secure an extension to his rookie deal making him a free agent this coming summer.
Bagley won’t arrive in Toronto, if a deal is reached, without concerns. During the COVID-19 shortened season, Bagley was diagnosed to have a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. Expected to miss shortly more than a month, he only played 13 games before the season was suspended.
Bagley managed to play in 43 of 72 games last season amid a myriad of rumors about his desire to stay in Sacramento and the team trying to trade him. Now, the Kings aren’t starting him, and he appears to be on his way out. Bogdan Bogdanovic wound up signing as a restricted free agent with Atlanta after Sacramento also bungled their handling of him.
Could Marvin Bagley help the Toronto Raptors’ frontcourt?
The Raptors would claim a true big by conventional standards for their frontcourt. Already somewhat injury-prone, he has averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for his career. Unfortunately, he’s a horrendous defender, and that might not mesh with Toronto.
It’s not even that his stats are bad, but he hasn’t shown much progression or ability to do more as he has averaged 14 points per game every season. The Raptors could use his rebounding and size, especially in the east with teams like Philly, New York, and Brooklyn all employing tall bigs who can dominate in the paint.
Bagley is an interesting piece of the puzzle if management in Toronto feels they can coax anything more out of the power forward. With him effectively benched, his conditioning and readiness to play may be affected, and he’d need time to acclimate to head coach Nick Nurse’s schemes.
Verdict: Soft Pass.