Would the Toronto Raptors trade for Domantas Sabonis for free?

Would the Toronto Raptors trade for a reigning All-NBA center if he were offered for free?

On the surface that seems like a ludicrous question, but once you begin peeling back the layers it becomes a more complicated proposition. Like an ogre, perhaps.

Last season Domantas Sabonis was a double-double machine once again, racking up a preposterous 77 in 2023-24; most players didn't even play that many games. He appeared in all 82 games, averaging 19.4 points, 8.2 assists and a league-leading 13.7 rebounds per game. He made Third Team All-NBA and even received an MVP vote.

Why Domantas Sabonis may not be as valued as you think

For all of that success in the box score, the hosts of the popular Dunc'd On Basketball podcast recently had a discussion about Sabonis and what his value would be around the league. They were discussing the Sacramento Kings' 2023 offseason, where they used cap space to renegotiate and extend Sabonis's contract, giving him more money last year and locking him up on a near-max deal for years to come.

That move prevented Sabonis from hitting free agency and signing with another team. Podcast host Nate Duncan stated that the Kings significantly overpaid on both the front end and the full length of the contract, and that despite Sabonis's stats he wasn't worth a max and wouldn't get one from another team. The Kings were, in his estimation, bidding against themselves and lost.

To illustrate the point, the Duncan and co-host Danny Leroux asked the question of which NBA teams would trade for Sabonis right now on his current contract, if he were offered to their team for free. All a team would need to do would be to match his salary and they could have an All-NBA center added to the mix.

Duncan and Leroux concluded that somewhere around six teams would trade for Sabonis if he were offered for free, a shockingly low number. They also spent the most time during that exercise debating the Toronto Raptors, who were "on the fence" in their thinking.

Why would Sabonis not have more value around the league? Were these hosts off their rocker, or was their something to their analysis? And would the Raptors trade for Sabonis were he free? Let's take a closer look at the question.