This Raptors 3-team trade gets Marvin Bagley III to Toronto

Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors may have turned over this roster quite a bit during the offseason, but this team has never been one to completely disregard the chance to add a potential impact player via trade. After a very contentious start to 2021-22, Sacramento Kings big man Marvin Bagley III might be the next big name to hit the rumor mill.

Bagley has been mocked regularly over the last few years after Sacramento chose to pass on names like Luka Doncic and Trae Young to select him No. 2 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.  Bagley has averaged a solid 14.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his career, but he hasn’t made a ton of strides in the right direction since his rookie year.

His frustration with the Kings reached a boiling point when he reportedly refused to check into a game. Bagley has been essentially deactivated this season, as both parties look ready for an irreconcilable divorce. The Raptors should consider trying to add him to a frontcourt that could stand to improve.

Let’s say that Ujiri gets the Kings and Mavericks on the phone. Could he potentially construct a deal that offloads Goran Dragic’s contract, gets Bagley to Toronto, and doesn’t surrender any first-round draft picks? It just so happens that such a trade might just come to fruition.

This trade helps Masai Ujiri bring Marvin Bagley III to the Toronto Raptors.

The Mavericks and Dragic have a mutual interest in each other, and if they part with some of their bigs in Willie Cauley-Stein and Dwight Powell, they could acquire the Slovenian veteran. Powell would provide another traditional low-post center to compliment Khem Birch in Toronto, while Cauley-Stein returns to Sacramento.

Outside of one performance against Philadelphia, Boucher has not looked like himself this season. With Boucher a free agent at the end of the season, the idea of flipping him before the deadline to get some assets back makes sense.

Losing Flynn would be tough, but that’s the price of doing business in his situation. The Raptors would have another vacant roster spot and would be under the luxury tax, so signing a free agent to fill that void would make a ton of sense.

In exchange, the Raptors would get a major boost to the frontcourt. While Powell can rebound and defend well enough, Bagley is the prize. His offensive gifts are evident even in some of his worst stretches, and at nearly seven feet, Bagley could give this smaller team some added height.

Given his ball-handling and interior finishing, Bagley isn’t going to be rooted to the post. Bagley is a terrible defender, but so was Gary Trent Jr. last year, and he’s turned things around in jarring fashion.

Khem Birch is not a dynamic offensive player and Precious Achiuwa has been showing off some roller-coaster play, so Bagley would be a worthy experiment to take on.