Yesterday, I wrote about how the Raptors losing out on quality shooter like Isaiah Joe was a bit of a stinger, considering his laser-sharp three-point percentages and relatively cheap contract. He had been looked at before as a potential target for Toronto to explore pending the Thunder's eventual cap addressing endeavors, but instead, Joe ended up with an East rival in the Detroit Pistons.
While it hurts to see strong targets land with other teams not named Toronto, the latest regarding Detroit to come out in the aftermath of this deal could be the Raptors' hidden silver lining.
Pistons' guard/shooting search likely cools after Isaiah Joe trade
NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line highlighted in their late-night NBA intel piece on Friday (subscription-required link here): "Sources say that the Pistons' acquisition of Joe now makes it less likely that they will pursue other targets on their list of guards known for shooting prowess. If that approach gets locked in, Joe's arrival would have ripple effects on Norman Powell's unrestricted free agency as well as the follow-up trade market for soon-to-be-Buck Tyler Herro."
It seems like Detroit might be calling it a day on their pursuit of guards and shooting upgrades after securing Isaiah Joe. Joe is not a shabby player by any means, but the Pistons had been rumored to be exploring other targets like the aforementioned Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, or even Trey Murphy in previous intel pieces. Adding Joe is one of those lowkey, high upside deals for a team, though, it's far from a big-time splash enough to be the nail in the coffin.
But if we were talking about adding names like Powell, Herro, Murphy, or other suggested targets at that — now we're looking at a serious jump in competition for the Raptors to consider with Detroit. The Pistons were just the unrivaled East powerhouse (at least in the regular season), and for the rich to only get richer, then that only raises their ceiling while being a thorn in the side of hungry squads like Toronto.
If a serious rival like Detroit steps back from exploring other options, that should be the ultimate green light for Toronto to swoop in and capitalize.
However, as I laid out in a piece last night, Toronto's ability to get into similar conversations for this type of player could prove difficult based on their financial misdeeds, but per recent reports and chatter — we've also been been led to believe that the Raptors will look to strike at the right opportunity to upgrade this summer.
I do ackowledge that offseason drama is far from over, and we could still see Detroit make additional moves to increase their winning chances, but based on this report specifically — it should come as a bit of a sigh of relief for Raptors fans regarding the competitive landscape of the offseason market.
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