Grade the Trade: Raptors land broken former star in massive three-team proposal

Laying out the mammoth three-team trade

Fanspo laid out the three-team trade on X, including both players and draft picks. The thought process is that the Hawks could invest a lot of draft capital in remaking their rotation, sending out two frontcourt starters and getting back two better ones. The Brooklyn Nets would get a haul of draft picks and move off of the toxic contract of Ben Simmons.

The Raptors? Well, it's not entirely clear what this proposal thinks the Raptors are doing. Here is how it looks for all three teams:

The Atlanta Hawks push the chips into the table for this one. Already out multiple first-round picks from the Dejounte Murray deal, they double-down by trading everything not nailed down for Mikal Bridges. They move three first-round picks, a swap and two seconds to the Nets for Bridges, then pivot and also send rookie guard Kobe Bufkin and veteran center Clint Capela to the Raptors for Jakob Poeltl, upgrading their rim protection.

For the Brooklyn Nets, they get a massive haul for Mikal Bridges and more fully commit to a rebuild. They also get off of the contract of Ben Simmons, moving him to Toronto in exchange for Bruce Brown and Chris Boucher. Brown and Boucher do very little for the Nets, but they can flip them for assets or as matching salary in two different deals by the Trade Deadline.

It depends on what you think about Bridges whether you rate this a win for the Nets or Hawks. What about Toronto? If both Brooklyn and Atlanta were on board, would the Raptors make this deal?

The answer is likely obvious, but let's dig into why and give a final grade to this trade.