With or without this Kawhi Leonard trade madness, the Toronto Raptors are in desperate need of bolstering their center depth.
Polarizing veteran Jakob Poeltl remains the Raps' most notable size threat, despite an apparent downturn and calls for outstanding youngster Collin Murray-Boyles to lap him in the pecking order. The Raptors did make a small roster move to help address this issue, adding recent member of the 2026 Knicks title squad in Trey Jemison III to a two-way deal. But this addition is far from a ceiling-raising move and is widely banking on the 26-year-old to impress in this modest deal.
That missing link of additional big man play is still calling the Raptors' name. And if Toronto wants to look in the market for a solution to their problem, then look no further than an old friend in Masai Ujiri and the team which he oversees now: the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs welcomed the former Raptors leader into their organization three months ago, while also set to welcome a new head coach in former Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May. Dallas hopes to one day build a contender around Cooper Flagg, which, as evidenced by Ujiri's involvement in the Mavericks' recent moves and roster construction, appears to be adopting a strategy similar to the one he made famous with the Raptors.
However, this current roster outlook has a pretty obvious logjam of swingmen and in the frontcourt, which NBA insider Marc Stein highlighted in a recent edition of The Stein Line.
Stein noted on August 3 (subscription-required link here): "Flagg. Risacher. Marshall. Washington. Max Christie (who also became extension-eligible this summer). Thompson. Tarik Biberović. Caleb Martin. Those are the eight swingmen currently on Dallas' roster.
Even if Thompson ultimately moves on this offseason, either via trade or buyout, that's quite a logjam for first-year coach Dusty May, who also has five big men to find minutes for: Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Moussa Cissé, recently acquired Santi Aldama and first-round pick Morez Johnson Jr. from May's national champion Michigan Wolverines."
Now, I don't know if I would throw a confident wager that Toronto could simply call up Masai Ujiri's line and execute a lopsided deal in the Raptors' favor. Raptors fans know from Ujiri's time in the Six that he was quite the tough executive to negotiate with. So now that he's part of a different organization's staff, then all signs should point to Ujiri being even more stubborn in potential trade talks.
But figuring out playing time for many of those names listed above will definitely be a key housekeeping chore to sort out before next season. If Bobby Webster and Masai Ujiri can find that common ground, based on their many years working together to sort out each roster’s respective issues, then we might be onto something real here.
Raptors could solve Mavericks' roster crunch and fill their own gaps
I want to point out one name in particular: I really like the idea of finding Daniel Gafford a new home in Toronto as he looks like the odd man out of the bunch.
The tricky part, as always with the Raptors, is their financial situation. Gafford has three years left on his deal, with an expected 2026-27 salary of $17.3 million, which the Raptors would need to accommodate on their books. The only player with a similar salary is Jakob Poeltl, but that obviously doesn’t solve the Mavericks’ problem of their loaded frontcourt, and I doubt they’d be interested in the aging big man to begin with.
A spicy trade to consider: the Raptors sending the expiring RJ Barrett to Dallas in exchange for Gafford and Caleb Martin. I know that deal looks a little weak at face value, but it’s worth considering as the Raps' long-term vision with RJ is still up for debate. The Raptors could potentially ask for some draft picks or swaps to make the deal more enticing, while on the Mavericks’ side, I think Masai would be open to adding another wing to his ranks.
Things could get even more interesting if the Raptors somehow manage to sway Max Christie out of Dallas (I'd be all over this), or perhaps Klay Thompson is involved the deal. Naji Marshall would've been ideal, but he just inked a new deal locking him in to Dallas for the foreseeable future. Of course, all of this depends on how the Masai-Raptors connection is revisited and whether the two sides can agree on a deal that works for everyone.
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