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Poll: Raptors At The Trade Deadline

January 1st, 2020 at 9:34pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite a flurry of player injuries, the Raptors remain firmly ensconced among the class of the Eastern Conference. Currently, they are seeded fourth with a 23-11 record.

If one were to project this present winning percentage across an 82-game schedule, Toronto would win 55 contests. Not bad for a team already missing its best player from the season prior.

Five of the Raptors’ top eight players in minutes logged per game this season (All-Star level studs Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam, plus starters Marc Gasol and Norman Powell and integral reserve Serge Ibaka) have been lost to various maladies for at least nine games each, as we have noted previously on Hoops Rumors.

The ascent of Siakam to two-way superstar status, when healthy, has been a boon to the Raptors’ terrific start to 2019/20. 33-year-old Lowry’s ability to help shoulder more of the offensive burden left by departed fun guy Kawhi Leonard, along with the rise of Fred VanVleet as a major scorer, have helped plenty, too.

Provided Siakam doesn’t miss too much more time with his stretched groin injury, he and Lowry should both be All-Stars this season. The team’s various absences have doubled as showcases for young role players like OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Terence Davis to prove their mettle.

Assuming the team is healthy by spring, the Raptors’ depth, size and star power makes them a legitimate contender in the East in 2020, one year removed from winning it all. Or does it? Can they really best the Bucks, Celtics, or Sixers in a seven-game series? Teams like the Pacers and Heat have a realistic chance at advancing far, too. And do any of these teams have a chance against the two stacked Los Angeles squads or the Nuggets in a Finals series?

Before the season started, many pundits assumed Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri would tactfully rebuild his team, moving some of his solid veterans on good deals for future assets. Lowry has one season remaining this year; Gasol and Ibaka are both on expiring contracts.

The team has proven to be better than even some of the most devout occupants of Jurassic Park could have hoped. Should the Raptors blow it up? Or should they move some of their intriguing youth for a bit more veteran help ahead of another playoff push? The team will probably strive to avoid adding too many contracts that will extend beyond the 2020/21 season, as that summer promises to supply a stacked free agent class.

This writer believes that, barring some kind of collapse down the ranks ahead of the deadline, the Raptors should look to improve their team for 2020. The Raptors have bucked the odds to reach this point. Let them see this through. Though the Bucks, Lakers, and Clippers feel like the current cream of the crop in the NBA, the Raptors number among a host of talented squads nipping at their heels.

Should the Raptors be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline this season? Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your thoughts. We look forward to hearing from you!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Raptors Hoping For A Healthier 2020

January 1st, 2020 at 8:34pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Raptors have managed to stay afloat this season despite losing Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard this summer and losing Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell to injuries for at least nine games each. The Toronto Star’s Doug Smith reports that the Raptors are eager for their players’ health to stabilize in 2020. Coach Nick Nurse observed that there have been some benefits to the team’s losing so many top players. “We’ve got a lot more reps out of a lot of other things in games — with a lot of guys that we probably didn’t think would get a lot of reps — and we’ve got a look at a lot of different defenses and stuff,” Nurse said. “So it’s been give and take, good and bad.”

Raptors Could Be Buyers At Trade Deadline

January 1st, 2020 at 12:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors’ quick start puts them in a tricky position regarding the trade market, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated notes. It was generally assumed that Toronto would be a seller with the ability to dangle the expiring contracts of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. The one-year extension handed to Kyle Lowry was done in part to make the veteran point guard more tradeable. But now there’s a window for the club to make a run at another championship, Mannix adds.

Kyle Lowry Credits Jameer Nelson For Help Navigating NBA

December 29th, 2019 at 3:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Long-tenured Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry is averaging 20.8 PPG, 7.6 APG, and 5.0 RPG during Toronto’s excellent 22-10 start to the season. That win percentage would translate to 56 regular season victories if Toronto sustained its pace, just a two-game depreciation since losing their 2019 Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, to the Clippers in the offseason. Lowry and breakout star forward Pascal Siakam have picked up the slack in Leonard’s absence.

The 33 year-old, a five-time All-Star for the Raptors, credits retired point guard Jameer Nelson with helping him navigate the NBA to reach his current position, as one of the most important leaders for one of the league’s best teams.

“Nobody knows this, but to this day, I thank Jameer for helping me get to where I am,” Lowry told The Athletic’s Michael Lee. “Whenever he text[s] me, I text him, I tell him, ‘You’re the reason I even understand how to work.'” In the summer of 2005, following his rookie season for the Magic, Nelson began mentoring Lowry, then coming off his freshman season for Villanova. Lowry has been with the Raptors since the 2012/13 season.

Warriors Willing To Trade Alec Burks, Other Veterans

December 28th, 2019 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

Shooting guard Alec Burks is among several players the Warriors are willing to part with before the February 6 trade deadline, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Poole suggests Golden State could be one of the most active teams on the trade market after virtually ignoring it during the past five years.

He identifies Burks as the most coveted of the Warriors’ assets because he can stretch defenses and has an affordable contract at $2.3MM. Burks is averaging 15.5 PPG through 30 games and shooting 34.9% from 3-point range.

Poole names the Lakers, Mavericks, Clippers, Pacers and Raptors as teams that could use another wing player who can shoot from the outside. He states that the Warriors will be looking for future assets such as draft picks and young players.

Although Golden State’s front office likes Burks, they need to open up roster spots soon to keep two-way players Damion Lee and Ky Bowman, who are both nearing their 45-day NBA limit. Lee has 12 days remaining and Bowman has 11. After that, they will have to have their contracts converted to NBA deals or remain in the G League until that season is over.

“It’s an awkward situation for us, because Ky and Damion are coming up on their limit,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Friday’s game. “And they’re two of our top seven players in our rotation. And yet the rules are that we only have them for another nine or 10 days each. Everybody is aware of that. We don’t know how it’s going to play out.”

Several league sources told Poole that the Warriors are ready to move into serious trade discussions. They added several veterans over the summer on contracts that they believed would be easy to move when the time came.

Those include Glenn Robinson III at $1.9MM, Marquese Chriss at a non-guaranteed $1.7MM and Willie Cauley-Stein at $2.2MM with a $2.3MM player option for next season. They also traded for Omari Spellman, who makes $1.9MM this year, and picked up his option for 2020/21 at nearly $2MM.

NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Atlantic Division

December 24th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of the 2019/20 NBA season, up until February’s trade deadline, we’re keeping an eye on potential trade candidates from around the NBA, monitoring their value and exploring the likelihood that they’ll be moved. Each of these looks at possible trade candidates focuses on a specific division, as we zero in on three players from that division.

The Cavaliers and Jazz broke the NBA’s trade drought today, completing the league’s first trade since July 16. While I wouldn’t necessarily expect the floodgates to open on the trade market as a result of that deal, it certainly won’t be the last one completed this winter.

As we wait for an Atlantic team to make its first in-season trade of the 2019/20 season, let’s identify three more trade candidates from around the division…

Marcus Morris, F
New York Knicks
$15MM cap hit; UFA in 2020

Virtually every veteran on the Knicks’ roster is a trade candidate this season, as we noted in our last look at the Atlantic. However, Morris projects to be the most valuable of a group that also features Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, and others.

Morris is the only player of that bunch who has no guaranteed money on his contract beyond this season, and he’s also been the most productive one so far, with a team-best 18.4 PPG to go along with an impressive .466 3PT%. Multiple reports have suggested that the Knicks could realistically expect to land a first-round pick in return for Morris.

The veteran forward has said he doesn’t want to be traded, since he likes playing in New York and would prefer to try to help the Knicks reverse their first-half skid. But he has no ability to veto a trade or steer himself to a specific destination, so it will likely come down to whether the Knicks get an offer they like.

Zhaire Smith, SG
Philadelphia 76ers
$3.1MM cap hit; $3.2MM guaranteed salary in 2020/21; $4.9MM team option for 2021/22

John Hollinger of The Athletic identified Smith this week as a recent first-round pick he’s worried about, since the 20-year-old “has struggled to make an impact even in G League games due to his limited skill level.” That’s not good news for a Sixers team that could badly use a wing like Smith off the bench.

Given how young he is, Smith could appeal to a rebuilding club that likes his athleticism and thinks it could get more out of him. Of course, the 76ers would be selling low, which the front office may be reluctant to do again after seeing Markelle Fultz contribute in Orlando this season.

Still, the Sixers don’t have a ton of expendable pieces earning more than the minimum, so even if they’re not ready to give up on Smith, he might make sense as a salary-matching piece in a trade package to acquire a more reliable contributor. Attaching Smith to Jonah Bolden, for instance, would allow Philadelphia to bring back a player earning up to about $8.4MM.

Stanley Johnson, F
Toronto Raptors
$3.6MM cap hit; $3.8MM player option for 2020/21

Like Smith, Johnson looks like he could serve a potential trade chip for a contending team that lacks expendable mid-level players. Of the four outside free agents the Raptors brought in this past summer, Johnson is being paid the most and has played the least, due to both injuries and ineffectiveness.

There’s still time for the former lottery pick to emerge as a regular contributor in Nick Nurse‘s rotation — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson worked his way out of the doghouse earlier in the season and is now seeing big minutes off the bench for the club. It’s possible Johnson will follow suit.

Even if Johnson remains glued to the bench, it remains unclear what sort of approach the Raptors will take at the trade deadline But if the club is looking for a modestly-priced bench upgrade, Johnson would be the most logical outgoing piece and could be the on the move.

Revisit the rest of our 2019/20 Trade Candidate series right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Investigated Clippers After Deal With Kawhi

December 23rd, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA conducted a formal investigation into the Clippers last summer following the team’s free agent agreement with Kawhi Leonard, three sources with knowledge of the situation tell Sam Amick of The Athletic. As Amick explains, complaints surfaced during Leonard’s free agency that his uncle Dennis Robertson was asking teams for improper benefits.

According to Amick, the NBA was told following Leonard’s free agent decision that Robertson had asked team officials for an ownership stake, a private plane, a house, and a guaranteed amount of off-court endorsement money they could expect if Kawhi joined their team. As Amick rightly notes, all of those requests would violate the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

A source with knowledge of the Lakers‘ talks with Leonard tells Amick that Robertson repeatedly made those requests to owner Jeanie Buss, who made it clear the perks were illegal and wouldn’t be considered. Sources tell The Athletic that similar requests were made of the Raptors, which aligns with what we heard out of Toronto at the time.

The presumption among rival teams is that Robertson asked the Clippers for similar perks, but the league’s investigation didn’t turn up any evidence that the Clips granted any of those requests, per Amick.

Leonard’s free agency process was believed to be the motivating factor for the NBA’s decision to introduce new anti-tampering guidelines and penalties this fall. The league has also asked the players’ union to re-emphasize that only certified player agents are permitted to negotiate directly with teams, a rule that teams are expected to stress on their ends going forward as well.

“This is all because of Uncle Dennis,” one team owner said of those measures to cut down on tampering and cap circumvention, according to Amick. A prominent agent offered a similar assessment: “This is because of Dennis. He didn’t know the rules.”

Although the Lakers are comfortably atop the Western Conference with a 24-6 record, the team is still upset by how the Leonard sweepstakes played out, says Amick. For a short time, there was a strong belief within the Lakers’ organization that the Finals MVP would choose them, but they came to suspect that Kawhi’s camp was using them for leverage.

For what it’s worth, a source tells Amick that the Raptors never believed the Lakers were truly an option for Leonard. Amick adds that there was also some skepticism within the Clippers’ organization that Kawhi would join the Lakers, albeit not from the club’s top executives.

Raptors Notes: Siakam, Gasol, Powell, VanVleet

December 20th, 2019 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors, who have already been without Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and a handful of role players for stretches this season, will now put their roster depth to its biggest test yet. The team announced on Thursday that Pascal Siakam (groin), Marc Gasol (hamstring), and Norman Powell (shoulder) will all be sidelined indefinitely.

Siakam has been Toronto’s leading scorer and a borderline MVP candidate so far this season, while Gasol has been the team’s most valuable player on the defensive end. The loss of Powell shouldn’t be understated either — the 26-year-old swingman had been enjoying perhaps the best stretch of his career, averaging 16.8 PPG on .515/.423/.828 shooting in his last 20 games (30.8 MPG).

Here’s more on the Raptors as they look to fill the holes created by their latest series of injuries:

While the Raptors didn’t offer a definitive recovery timeline for any of their three newly-injured players, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Gasol is likely to miss a “period of weeks.” Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links) suggests that Siakam’s injury will likely be the most short-term of the three, while Powell’s injury figures to keep him out the longest. Siakam’s groin issue is believed to be a mild strain that the club is handling with caution, Grange notes.
As both Grange and Eric Koreen of The Athletic point out, Powell’s shoulder subluxation sounds similar to an injury he suffered last season, which cost him six weeks. Koreen believes it will be a “best-case scenario” for Toronto if Gasol and Powell each only miss a few weeks.
Getting Fred VanVleet, Matt Thomas, and Stanley Johnson back soon would help the Raptors address their depth concerns, Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes in an in-depth look on the fallout of the team’s injury woes. There’s hope that VanVleet may be able to return as early as Friday, but Grange says Thomas will likely be out for another week or so.
Koreen, Murphy, and Grange all wonder if the Raptors might consider adding someone to their roster. The 15-man squad is currently full though, so in order to make room for someone new, Toronto would have to trade or waive a back-of-the-roster player — or qualify for a hardship exception, which appears unlikely for now.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 12/19/19

December 19th, 2019 at 10:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Raptors recalled Dewan Hernandez from their G League affiliate, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. Toronto needs all hands on deck as a result of various frontcourt injuries this week.
The Magic have assigned Melvin Frazier and Amile Jefferson to the Lakeland Magic, the team announced on Twitter. Lakeland plays the South Bay Lakers in its first game of the G League showcase.
The Pacers have assigned Alize Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, per the team’s transaction log. This is Johnson’s third G League stint of the week.
Justin Robinson has been assigned to the Capital City Go-Go, per the Wizards‘ Twitter feed. The G League squad takes on the Iowa Wolves in its first match of the showcase in Las Vegas.
The Mavericks have recalled Isaiah Roby from the Texas Legends, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
The Thunder have recalled Deonte Burton from the Oklahoma City Blue, per the team’s website. Burton has played seven games in the G League this season, averaging 16.1 points per game.

Pascal Siakam Among Raptors Out Indefinitely

December 19th, 2019 at 7:48pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Earlier today, we passed along word that Marc Gasol will miss time with a hamstring injury and the news from The North has gotten worse. Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell are each out indefinitely, the Raptors announced in a press release.

Siakam sustained a stretched groin, per the team, after landing awkwardly during the Raptors’ tilt against the Pistons. Powell also left that game after colliding with another player and the wing has been diagnosed with subluxation of his left shoulder.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Gasol will miss “a period of weeks” with his injury. The team didn’t put a timetable on it, instead calling the big man out indefinitely as well. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) hears that Siakam will likely be the quickest to return of the three.

After a summer that saw Toronto win an NBA championship and lose Kawhi Leonard, the team came back this year focused and it shows in the Raptors’ 19-8 record. The club sits fourth in the Eastern Conference as of this writing. However, it’ll be tough for the Raptors to remain to hold their position in the standings, given their injuries and the fact that the Sixers and Pacers are within a game of them.