HUGE BLOW: Raptors may loss two key starter to Dallas Mavericks in a trade deal – this may create a huge problem in the locker room among players

The Dallas Mavericks were defeated 127-116 by the Toronto Raptors last night in one of their worst defensive performances of the season.

With the exception of the first quarter, the Mavericks struggled to generate consistent offensive stretches and were frequently exploited by Toronto’s length on the wing. O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam did an excellent job of trapping Luka Doncic and other Dallas ball handlers at the point of attack, which resulted in numerous deflections and steals that led to Toronto layups.

The Mavericks haven’t faced a team with such extreme length in a small-ball lineup before, and Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic made a big point of playing small-ball to compensate for the Mavericks’ lack of positional size.

In a win over Dallas, two Raptors players demonstrated why the Mavericks should trade for them.

With Dereck Lively II out due to a non-COVID illness, head coach Jason Kidd agreed to play small ball for long stretches of the second half in order to match Toronto, which resulted in Anunoby and Siakam feasting on smaller Mavericks defenders. While the Raptors struggled to shoot the ball last night, Siakam and Anunoby had no trouble beating Dallas defenders to the basket.

Dallas consistently missed defensive rotations last night and should have given up more points given the number of open shots Toronto had. Despite this, the Raptors did a much better job of hustling for loose balls, finishing with 18 offensive rebounds to compensate for a poor performance from downtown.

Dallas can’t keep getting annihilated in the second chance points battle, but perhaps last night was a dress rehearsal for some players who can help in that area. Dallas is 6-2, and this was only their first home loss of the season, so there’s no reason to panic just yet. One of the more obvious flaws on this team is the lack of positional size and offensive power.

Anunoby and Siakam would be huge help with that if Toronto is looking to move on from them at all this season, and both have been in trade rumors for multiple seasons now. The trajectory of Toronto’s performance this season will almost certainly dictate where executive Masai Ujiri places the team come the trade deadline.

If the Raptors have another mediocre season, they may decide to part ways with one of Anunoby or Siakam. The addition of Anunoby or Siakam would almost certainly propel the Mavericks into title contention, as long as they didn’t give up too much in the process.

They are both excellent defenders who can defend a position up if necessary, giving Dallas the ability to effectively play small-ball if necessary. Anunoby would be welcomed if Toronto was looking to move on from him, but he is more of a true wing than Siakam, who would help Dallas’ rebounding and defensive issues with his energy and athleticism at 6-foot-9.

Except for last night, Siakam has had a rough start to the season, so it will be interesting to watch him and Anunoby from Dallas’ perspective for the rest of the season. The Mavericks are in a precarious position because they have played well in their first eight games but have yet to face elite competition.

Dallas will need to make another move if they want to be sure-fire contenders this year and not let Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes down the road. Stay tuned for updates if Dallas makes a move, as well as everything else involving the team in the future.