The Raptors are one of two teams without a pick in the 2018 NBA draft, but they’re exploring all of their trade options as they consider getting back into the first round, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). According to Stein, Toronto’s goal would be to acquire a pick high enough to land Kentucky guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander – a native of Hamilton, Ontario – has been a mystery man throughout the pre-draft process, as Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer notes (via Twitter). The former Kentucky Wildcat is viewed as a probable lottery pick, but reportedly hasn’t worked out for any teams and declined to name which clubs he met with at the combine in May.
While it’s possible that Gilgeous-Alexander’s camp is attempting to steer the youngster to his hometown team, that would probably be a long shot, given Toronto’s lack of 2018 draft assets. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (via Twitter), team management has conveyed both privately and publicly that it doesn’t want to a significant step backwards in the short term, and the cost of a top-10 pick would be high.
Still, one league source tells Stein that no one on the Raptors’ roster is off limits in trade talks. That includes All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry — Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link) says he’s heard from several places that Lowry is “very available.”
Gilgeous-Alexander spent just one season at Kentucky, doing a little of everything for the Wildcats. He averaged 14.4 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.6 SPG with a shooting line of .485/.404/.817.
While nothing may come of the Raptors’ pursuit of a lottery pick, the fact that the team is exploring the opportunity is an indication that the front office figures to take the same approach to its roster as it did to its coaching staff this offseason — Dwane Casey was dismissed after a Coach of the Year caliber season, and it appears the Raps won’t hesitate to shake up a roster that won 59 games in 2017/18.
Knew it. Literally thought “he must be Canadian”. This is why I think Wiggins gets traded straight up for DeRozan. Anyone that’s at least average and Canadian they want.
FYI: link to en.wikipedia.org
Has SGA listed as a Clipper, Justin Jackson as a Spur, lol.
Why in the world would the Wolves trade Wiggins for DeRozan? Regardless of how Jimmy Butler feels, he’s the one most likely to get moved imo
Because Wiggins is overrated player that has made 0 improvements to his game And the numbers show that
Wiggins has no heart, and no desire to get better
More likely a draft day trade. Around 11th pick Raptors make an offer to trade up so they can select SGA, but Hornets refuse and draft Robert Woods lol. Serious note, I think Clips two lottery picks on draft night will generate a lot of offers for teams with no picks.
I could see the Raptors attempting to pick up #8 from the Cavs. Could we see something like
Cavs get
Kyle Lowry
CJ Miles
Raptors get
#8 pick
JR Smith
George Hill
It works for the trade machine, but I’m not sure it would be enough for Lowry.
Can’t see the Raptors helping the Cavs to improve. They’re not gonna buy into getting LeBron’s rejects; if they can’t win with him, they aren’t going to win with DeRozen
Why not? Hill and Smith would only be coming for salary purposes and could be flipped again later. Besides, Toronto has made it clear that they intend to rebuild so I don’t it will matter to them how it helps Cleveland since they are unlikely to be winning again any time soon.
Neither smith nor hill have positive trade value. Their contracts make them a negative asset
The meat of the trade is the #8 pick. But you can’t just trade Lowry for the #8 pick. Smith and Hill are just there for salary purposes and basically to be warm bodies until SGA (or whoever they pick) is ready to contribute.
Smith and Hill are expirings. They are the costs of an upgrade/renewal/costcutting at the 1. Lowery has 2 yrs left and does not care for Nurse’s offense.
This is where proposals fall over – they assume certain players have value that they really don’t. No one is going to want JR Smith, so how will TOR flip him? Hill may have a shred of value left but that’s it.
Last I heard, they were retooling, not rebuilding.
I would stretch him until he’s 3 or 4 million cost; use the remainder for VanVleet.
But the Cavs should not do the trade without Wright, Poetl or Siakam.
Kyle Lowry + IbAKA for #8 Pick + Kevin Love + JR Stupid Smith
Seems like a smart plan from Toronto, getting rid of Lowry & bringing in like SGA, hopefully they can pull it off, that would be a master stroke, looks like with Nurse they are already starting to do things in a better way.
CLE is a good landing spot for Lowery. He and Nurse will be grudging all year if he stays with regards to the “culture change”. CLE has expirings & the #8, TOR has some talented youth.
Anyone who thinks that Lowry was the problem for the Raptors wasn’t paying attention
You think he likes the new offense? He was the main obstacle to overcome. This isn’t necessarily visible in watching the games; gotta read.
Toronto is in about as awkward a spot as you can be in. NBA has basically shown that to win the championship, you need a top 5 or so player, and neither Lowry nor Derozan are that.
The problem is, most likely anyone you are taking at a spot the Raps can reasonably get to won’t be that guy either. With the current core, if everyone is healthy and playing A level ball at the same time, they could beat anybody, but your odds of that happening are extremely slim.
If you just try and blow it up now, the fan-base would go nuts. And that does matter going forward. Toronto fans have shown they will come out if the team is competitive, but they won’t otherwise (outside of hockey). Blue Jays, Argonauts and some of the secondary team sports like lacrosse show that.
Personally, I do like the idea of trading Lowry for a higher pick, considering the play they’ve gotten from Wright and Van Vleet. Not sure the Cavs are the best for that though, considering they are one of the two teams you need to get through in your own conference.
I think I would look at that #3-5 picks that are looking to move down – Could you maybe get something done with a backbone of Lowry/Poeltl/1 other piece? Something in that area would be my preferred outcome, but that’s still a tough sell for the fans from Ujiri.