The Toronto Raptors need to fix their 3-point shooting in the offseason, as the playoffs showed how top-heavy their skill in this area is. When Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. don’t catch fire, Nick Nurse and the squad found it challenging to keep pace with the rest of the contenders in the East.
Toronto will feel out the trade market to make some significant changes to their roster in the offseason. While the Raptors may need to keep their feet on the ground when it comes to looking at trade targets, Masai Ujiri has never been one to turn down a trade for a future starter if the price is right.
The Raptors need to poach shooters who can hold their own on the defensive end to step up in the NBA order next year. Even with Precious Achiuwa stepping up late in the season, one more shooter could turn Toronto into a spacing nightmare that makes it easier to get to the rim.
These three players could all be on the move, considering how the winds of change are blowing around their respective organizations. These three could be swept up and brought to Toronto, as they could turn the Raptors from an offensively deficient team on the perimeter to a collection of quality long-range snipers.
3 Toronto Raptors trade targets that could be solid shooters.
3. Kelly Oubre Jr, Charlotte Hornets
Oubre is one of those players who aren’t good enough to be a legitimate star on a title team yet continues to work on quality squads due to his ability to get buckets. A hypothetical trade to Toronto would send Oubre to his fifth team since 2018, but he has averaged 15.9 points per game on 44/33/74 shooting splits in that span.
Oubre averaged 15.0 points per game with the Hornets as the Sixth Man in James Borrego’s high-octane offense. Given how he’s already proven to have been an effective shooter off of the bench, letting Oubre be the top scorer on a depleted Raptors secondary unit might be the best way to kick that group in the butt.
Kelly Oubre Jr. could be a Sixth Man for the Toronto Raptors.
Oubre will never be an All-Defensive player in the league, but he is pesky enough on the perimeter to fit in with a Raptors team that mandates quality play from their wing players. A few months in the Nurse boot camp could take his defensive skill from good to great in the Gary Trent Jr. mold.
With just one year left on his contract, Oubre should be able to be brought in without forking over large chunks of the future. With Oubre in place of Svi Mykhailiuk in the rotation, Toronto should avoid some of those early second-quarter lulls that VanVleet and Pascal Siakam needed to erase.
2. Christian Wood, Houston Rockets
Wood went from a marquee offseason acquisition to a player likely to be moved from Houston. The emergence of Alperen Sengun at center and the idea of a star power forward like Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero falling to the No. 3 pick could push Wood out of time.
Not only was Wood a consistent scorer for the Rockets after finishing with a field goal percentage above 50% for the second straight year, but he made 38% of his 3-pointers on five attempts per game. That kind of stretch big man knocking around in the frontcourt would make it even easier to kick Khem birch to the curb.
Would Christian Wood fit the Toronto Raptors?
Wood had some concerning low-effort moments on tape last year, and his generally poor interior defense will not help correct Toronto’s cracks in that area. While his efficiency remained solid, Wood’s scoring fell from 21.0 points per game to 17.9 last year. Houston was barely above net neutral in points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
Making sure Wood is a success in Toronto will hinge entirely on reigniting the fire inside him. Doing so would make Wood the best bench player on Toronto’s squad with the ability to potentially force some alterations to the starting lineup and rotation.
1. Buddy Hield, Indiana Pacers
Poor Buddy Hield. After being traded in his rookie season from a moribund Pelicans team to the NBA’s black hole in Sacramento, Hield finally got his wish to leave Northern California. Unfortunately for him, he ended up in perhaps an even worse scenario, as Indiana is on the verge of a large-scale rebuild.
Hield could be used to get some extra thunder on the bench. With 18.2 points per game in Indiana and a 40% career 3-point percentage, Hield will finally be able to put his talents to use on a team that won’t be trying to lose games to improve their draft position at the end of the year.
Buddy Hield is a perfect addition to the Toronto Raptors.
With a base salary of under $22 million in both of the next two years, Hield will not be the biggest anchor on the team’s salary cap. As long as some first-round pick is involved, Indiana would be more than willing to get rid of him and build around Tyrese Haliburton.
Hield is a lousy defender, which will be a tough pill for Nurse to swallow. Hield will make up for that by instantly becoming a Sixth Man of the Year favorite or someone that can push Trent to the bench. Even if a third team needs to be involved, Masai Ujiri should pursue this line of inquiry.