The Toronto Raptors are stuck in the middle, with a roster completely turned over from the 2019 championship team and players that are all talented but haven't figured out how to fit together. Would trading for Austin Reaves be the solution to unstick the lineup and propel this team forward?
Toronto has never been afraid of the big move. From trading for Kawhi Leonard as a one-year rental to make a (successful) run at the title, to flipping OG Anunoby not for draft picks but two specific young players in Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, the Raptors think big and swing for the fences.
This season will already be built on such a move, as the Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram and handed him a lucrative new contract. His preseason debut this month was the first minute he had played with his fellow Raptors, and it's a massive question mark how he will fit next to Scottie Barnes and how the entire Toronto rotation will shake out.
A key problem is that the Raptors have plenty of length, athleticism and skill, and they lack a player who can both consistently create offense for himself and others on the ball while also spacing the court off-ball. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett are excellent shot creators but mediocre passers and below-average shooters. Immanuel Quickley hasn't figured out how to be elite on the ball. Ingram is another middling shooter and middling playmaker. Jakob Poeltl is just trying to get out of the way on offense so he can clog the paint on defense.
Could the Raptors trade for Austin Reaves?
Enter Austin Reaves into the conversation. The Raptors have an excellent history with undrafted guards, and Reaves has been an incredible success story for the Los Angeles Lakers. After going undrafted four years ago, Reaves has blossomed into a dynamic on-ball playmaker who can create shots for himself and set up his teammates. Last season, despite playing on a team with LeBron James and (for part of the year) Luka Doncic, Reaves averaged 5.8 assists as a secondary and even tertiary offensive creator. There is real on-ball juice for him to run his own offense.
Reaves has also learned how to excel off the ball, a 37 percent 3-point shooter for his career who hits 40 percent off the catch and 41 percent on wide-open shots. He is quick to make decisions off the catch and either attack, pass or shoot; the Raptors could desperately use someone with that speed in decision-making.
Tom Ziller covers the entire NBA on his Substack and recently wrote about the Austin Reaves issue in Los Angeles. The Lakers have already committed to building their team around Luka Doncic; as Reaves approaches free agency next summer, he will need a new contract, and if the Lakers give their top two salary slots to such similar offensive players, it could limit their ceiling. Trading Reaves this season might make the most long-term sense.
Ziller suggested the Raptors as an ideal trade partner for the Lakers, and he built the following hypothetical deal:
Someone from the Raptors has to go out as the matching salary, and Barrett likely makes the most sense. While his connections to Toronto and overall character make him a beloved member of the franchise, his skillset is too constrained on such a poor shooting team as the Raptors, and that reality isn't changing anytime soon. Given his ample salary, using him to bring back Reaves makes a lot of sense.
The price of the deal is also taking on the contracts of Vincent (which is expiring, at the least) and Jarred Vanderbilt. Both are tough defensive-minded players whose offensive games have largely evaporated; that profile has never seemed to scare the Raptors, however, so they may not mind taking them back to add a talent like Reaves.
The jolt that Reaves would give to the Raptors is undeniable. Will the Lakers get to the point that they are shopping their young star? Perhaps not, but if they do, Toronto should pick up the phone and talk about what a deal could look like. If it looks like this, they need to think long and hard about pulling the trigger.