The Toronto Raptors are up for business as the Trade Deadline approaches, which might imply that veterans other than Bruce Brown and Gary Trent Jr. will be on the move. In an extreme circumstance, Jakob Poeltl or Dennis Schroder may find new homes soon.
With Toronto aiming to build for the future and two veterans in Schroder and Poeltl unlikely to be untouchable, Masai Ujiri and the front office would be prudent to pick up the phone and speak with other clubs.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who are in the midst of a championship run and have more draft picks than they know what to do with, could be an intriguing trading partner. At the very least, they could if they offered more in exchange for the collection of flotsam ESPN requested.
ESPN’s Andre Snellings proposed a trade that would return Poeltl and Schroder to Oklahoma City in exchange for three players who are no longer in the Thunder rotation (Aleksej Pokusevski, Davis Bertans, Tre Mann) and one fringe player, Aaron Wiggins. Toronto get four draft picks in this transaction, but is it worth the loss?
Where do I even begin with this? Sure, acquiring extra draft picks is wonderful, especially when you’re trading four of them for two seasoned players, but the Raptors would be without a centre on the roster. Picks are crucial, but selling short on these two would be a huge blow to this roster.
None of the players Toronto would receive in this trade would even make the rotation. Bertans has one of the league’s worst contracts and rarely plays, Pokusevski has only played 48 minutes all season, and Mann’s fall from favour has consigned him to mop-up duties. This season, the three has combined for 36 games, nearly all of which have been mop-up duty.
Wiggins is OK, but a 25-year-old averaging fewer than 6.0 points per game as the top player in a deal for a strong starting centre in Poeltl and a serviceable Sixth Man point guard in Schroder is ridiculous. Even if Oklahoma City gives up a lottery pick, the deal’s value is debatable.
Giving up two great veterans who can help this team next year for a bunch of scraps who never play and selections that will be utilized to find replacements for Poeltl and Schroder is a bad deal for the Raptors. Trading them is not a crazy notion, but the return must be more than this.
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