The Toronto Raptors could be perfectly content with an offseason highlighted by the signing of Otto Porter Jr. in addition to the retention of Chris Boucher and Thad Young. However, if Masai Ujiri wants to go big-game hunting, the idea of a Kevin Durant trade needs to be explored.
Not only is Durant actively looking to leave the Brooklyn Nets, but Adrian Wojnarowski has mentioned Toronto as a “lurking” trade partner. We haven’t heard anything linking Durant to the Raptors just yet, but the idea of a trade to Canada can’t be discarded.
Toronto is not only fresh off a 48-win season and led by a coach and front office with championship experience, but they have young talents like Scottie Barnes that could entice Durant to make the trip up north. This move is highly unlikely, but it’s not outrageous.
The Raptors need to make anyone and everyone available if it means they can secure arguably the best scorer in the game in Durant. Locked in until 2027, the Raptors will need to give the Nets some serious capital if Sean Marks agrees to this deal.
3 Toronto Raptors assets the Nets could acquire in a Kevin Durant trade
3. OG Anunoby
While Anunoby survived the initial swathe of rumors after Portland used the No. 7 pick on Shaedon Sharpe and Utah flipped Rudy Gobert to Minnesota, he would almost assuredly be on the move. If the Nets want an All-Star and another starter, Anunoby could fill half of that quota.
Anunoby is fresh off averaging 17.1 points per game despite a relative lack of shots while overcoming injuries and providing elite defense at multiple positions. If the Nets are going to blow it up, getting Anunoby back could help keep them somewhat competitive.
Toronto Raptors: OG Anunoby would need to be traded for Kevin Durant.
Anunoby has one of the best contracts in the league, which could give a Nets team that could still contend on the back of an unexpectedly large Durant/Irving windfall a player who can come right in and produce. Anunoby remains the most tradeable piece Toronto has to their name.
OG is likely going to stay in Toronto, but he would probably have to be thrown into the KD package for salary-matching and competitive purposes. Anunoby is a fantastic player, but no player should be considered 100% untouchable if Durant is on the waiver wire.
2. Draft picks from 2023 to 2029
Ujiri is unique in that he has managed to regularly trade for some impact names without sacrificing tons of their first-round picks. That will need to change if Durant is coming up north, as the Nets will try to recoup the picks they lost in the James Harden mistake.
After watching Gobert leave Utah and require four first-round picks in exchange (the maximum amount allowed in one transaction), the draft compensation will likely have to start there. Brooklyn may need to reserve the right to swap picks with Toronto for every other season in that span.
The Toronto Raptors will need to trade tons of draft picks.
Toronto has built a postseason contender via the draft, as Barnes is the only member of the starting lineup picked before pick No. 23 overall. Ujiri loves picks, especially premium ones, but he won’t get Durant unless he forks over control of his draft for a few years.
This will be incredibly risky, as it could blow up in their face with one moe unfortunate turn of Durant’s ankle. Still, if Toronto feels confident in their chances to win now with Durant, that’s a sacrifice that will have to be made.
1. Fred VanVleet
This is shocking, I get it. We’re talking about Kevin Durant here. If Pascal Siakam is going to be the No. 2 scorer on this team and Scottie Barnes is totally off the table, the only player in addition to Anunoby who could conceivably be moved in a Durant deal is an All-Star point guard like VanVleet.
VanVleet is fresh off averaging 20.3 points and 6.7 assists per game with some exceptional defense. The Raptors would instantly have a massive hole at point guard if VanVleet gets traded, but the Nets will need an All-Star player like VanVleet to even think about trading Durant.
Will the Toronto Raptors move Fred VanVleet for Kevin Durant?
The Raptors have already experimented with Barnes and Pascal Siakam bringing the ball up, and they might just be crazy enough to lean into that full-time if it means they can get Durant on the team. Brooklyn can start anew with a team led by VanVleet.
Toronto would be completely divorced from their strategy of the past if they want to make this happen and contend immediately. Parting with VanVleet would be nothing short of a gut punch, but so was trading DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard. Look where that got them.