Grade the Trade: B/R moves Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby in weird Raptors fire sale
By Mike Luciano
The Toronto Raptors hold the potential to completely upend the NBA in their hands, as Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are both impending free agents. If Masai Ujiri wants to, he can trade away both of these stars and start building the Raptors from the ground up.
Both of these players have garnered interest from aspiring contenders in the past, as the Atlanta Hawks tried their hardest to acquire Siakam in the offseason, and the Memphis Grizzlies have long been connected to Anunoby.
As it stands right now, Ujiri seems willing to stand pat and let the Raptors go into the season with both of these players leading the proverbial charge. If things start to go sideways, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report cooked up a three-team trade that sees both players pack their bags.
The Raptors would only trade these two if they could get a haul of draft picks and multiple high-end young players who would help them continue winning. This deal doesn’t do either, as it is heavily slanted against Toronto.
Siakam on his future in Toronto: "I'm under contract. I'm a Raptors player. That's what I'm focused on. I'm focused on the present."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) October 2, 2023
Grade the Trade: Toronto Raptors move Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby in odd 3-teamer
Atlanta and Memphis both make out like bandits in this deal. Hunter and Kennard are solid players, but both of these teams get potential All-Stars in Siakam and Anunoby without giving up a long-term cornerstone or too much draft. Toronto, meanwhile, doesn’t get adequate value.
Hunter could be a very interesting long-term piece. Kennard is one of the five best shooters in the league, and Clarke is a very promising interior finisher when he’s healthy. Awesome. That doesn’t excuse the fact that trading Anunoby and Siakam to get a Hunter-led package back is inexcusable.
The first-round picks are nice, but can you sell fans on the idea of imminent short-term progress being made when you’ve parted with an elite and a near-elite player in a deal that nets no one with All-Star potential? The picks might not be used until a new regime takes over.
With the unprotected picks coming too far in the future to be of any value to Ujiri and the rest of this team and the return of players standing out as wholly inadequate, the Raptors deserved to be publically mocked in every capacity if they even consider making this trade a reality.
Grade: D