3 reasons Raptors won Thad Young-Goran Dragic trade with Spurs

1. Raptors got a draft pick in exchange for Dragic.

Dragic has a strong pedigree in this league, but he was the very definition of a declining asset. A 35-year-old point guard and an impending free agent who voiced his displeasure with playing in Toronto, Ujiri was still able to grab a second-round pick in exchange for the disgruntled Dragic.

The second-round pick, originally owned by Detroit, is currently the first selection in that round and the No. 31 overall pick in the draft. With Toronto’s first-round pick currently situated at No. 20, moving down 11 spots in the order to dump Dragic and acquire Young is a good spot of negotiating from Ujiri and Webster.

The Toronto Raptors got something of value for Goran Dragic.

Fans that are amped up about the loss of a first-round pick need to get over themselves. No one was taking on that contract and the responsibility of buying him out without attaching a first-round pick this year, and the pick acquired from the Pistons is essentially a very late first-rounder given how bad Detroit has been this year.

Dragic gave an interview in which he claimed that he had “higher ambitions” than playing for the Raptors, and that somehow wasn’t the worst of it. Toronto languished for months with minimal bench talent while he showed up at Heat games. Getting the No. 31 pick like that for him should earn Ujiri a round of applause.