Building a Raptors-Pacers trade proposal around OG Anunoby

Building a Raptors trade to send OG Anunoby home to Indiana

Anunoby played his single season of college basketball at Indiana in Assembly Hall, which is just 54 miles from where the Pacers play basketball in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers would love to bring Anunoby back to the Hoosier State, and here is a potential trade to make it happen.

The Pacers have a few extra first-round picks from trades that sent out Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon in the past year, which makes this structure doable. They would send out their 2021 lottery pick in Chris Duarte, a talented big man in Goga Bitadze, and a veteran point guard in T.J. McConnell to make the money work. The Raptors would send Anunoby and Khem Birch, who has fallen out of the rotation.

Toronto Raptors trade rumors: Will the Pacers acquire OG Anunoby?

For Indiana, they would instantly add to their core without sacrificing any of their most important players. Anunoby immediately becomes their best perimeter defender and pairs with Myles Turner to form a lethal 1-2 pairing. Andrew Nembhard can absorb McConnell’s minutes while Aaron Nesmith slides up the lineup with Anunoby coming aboard.

Three first-round picks are a lot, especially for a player who doesn’t create his own shot with tremendous frequency, but the draft capital they have collected eases the bite and makes it doable. The Pacers would almost certainly pull the trigger on this deal.