This Raptors offseason could be incredibly exciting. They could go star-hunting and try to bring someone like Donovan Mitchell or Jamal Murray to Toronto to supercharge their struggling offense. At the same time, however, the Raptors could just as likely go into next season with a very similar roster and see what else they can get out of players like Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Collin Murray-Boyles, Jamal Shead, Scottie Barnes, and Ja’Kobe Walter before pushing in all of their trade chips.
Either way, there is one move the front office absolutely has to pull off: trade Gradey Dick.
It’s not even about getting much for him in return, but about moving on from his salary, as Bryce Simon broke down on the Game Theory Podcast when he and Sam Vecenie discussed the Raptors’ offseason.
“For a team that currently you’re $8 million from the tax,” Simon said. “So, that $7 million could become valuable to them if they can just offload him and then now they have their full non-tax MLE.”
Trading Gradey Dick could be the key to re-signing Sandro Mamukelashvili
Sandro Mamukelashvili had a career season with the Raptors. He played more than 61 games for the first time in his career and averaged 11.2 points on 52.3% shooting from the field and 38.9% from three, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. He outplayed his player option and is largely expected to decline it to hit free agency.
A player like Mamukelashvili, who can reliably space the floor at 6’9”, would draw a lot of interest in free agency. So, the Raptors have to ensure that they can match whatever other teams are likely willing to offer him. Trading Dick is the easiest way to free up that money. He fell out of the Raptors’ rotation this season and hasn’t delivered on his promise as a 3-point shooter yet, but there should be a few teams that would like to take a chance on him.
Losing Mamukelashvili would be difficult to stomach. Jakob Poeltl and Collin Murray-Boyles don’t shoot threes. Scottie Barnes does, but he is a 30.1% 3-point shooter for his five years in the NBA. Mamukelashvili may not be as athletic and disruptive as Murray-Boyles on defense or as big a presence in the paint as Poeltl, but he gives the Raptors a different offensive dimension in the frontcourt.
Three of the five Raptors lineups that scored the most total points in the regular season featured Mamukelashvili in the frontcourt next to Barnes.
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