Top 3 things Raptors must do to tank for Victor Wembanyama
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors are just outside the play-in tournament range, but they are closer to winning the lottery and earning the right to select Victor Wembanyama with the top pick than they are to winning a postseason series. Masai Ujiri is close to completely turning his current roster upside down.
While Ujiri has very rarely been involved in tank jobs, the Raptors might be sitting on a potential gold mine if they decide to trade away their best players. The Raptors would get a treasure chest of unprotected first-round picks and several up-and-coming young players.
The Raptors need to start tearing things down to the studs as soon as possible if they want to “catch up” with the likes of tankers like the Pistons, Rockets, Hornets, and Spurs. With a robust teardown and a few lucky ping-pong ball bounces, Wembanyama or consolation prize Scoot Henderson could come to Canada.
If the Raptors want to waive the white flag on this season and move further into their quest to add a top talent, they need to accomplish these three goals and reorient their roster to be less win-now than ever before. If they end up with Wembanyama, it will all be worth it.
3 ways the Toronto Raptors can get Victor Wembanyama.
3. Trade Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr.
The Raptors may find it hard (and impractical if the team wants to be competitive in 2023) to trade both of these players, but the only way they can secure the best possible odds at Wembanyama. They aren’t exactly going to be short on suitors if they do make that move.
Buzz from Bleacher Report suggests that one-quarter of the league could have an interest in either acquiring VanVleet in a trade or going after him in free agency. Marc Stein, meanwhile, says that Trent is the most likely of the Raptors’ five usual starters to get traded.
The Toronto Raptors might need to trade their starting backcourt.
The combination of OG Anunoby’s injury history and exorbitant price tag might make it tough to find a trade partner for him. Pascal Siakam is clearly the best player the Raptors have on the roster, but there is no way to get adequate value for him in a trade.
Toronto is always going to have issues attracting top talent in free agency, meaning that trades and the draft are the two best ways to restock talent and get one-half of the Wembanyama/Henderson diad the complementary role pieces they need to eventually become stars.