The Toronto Raptors were active this season.
After letting go of Nick Nurse in the offseason, they have been making moves left and right in an attempt to rebuild this team to be the contenders that they once were.
It started with trading fan favourite and defensive specialist O.G. Anunoby to the New York Knicks for R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
Roughly three weeks later, they traded away Raptors legend(?) Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for Bruce Brown and future draft picks.
In the span of a few weeks, Toronto had traded away two star players.
But Masai Ujiri and the front office weren’t satisfied. They had an itch they needed to scratch. They wanted to do more.
So, right before the trade deadline on Thursday afternoon, what many people refer to as Trade Extravaganza, they made a slew of trades.
First, they brought in Canada’s own, Kelly Olynyk.
To acquire the big man (and guard Ochai Agbaji) from the Utah Jazz, the Raptors traded away Otto Porter Jr., Kira Lewis Jr. and a 2024 first-round pick.
I like this trade. The Raptors lack size and Olynyk fits the bill.
He’s 6-11, Canadian, can shoot, can pass, and can contest shots. He will be a good secondary big who can hold the fort down for Jakob Poetl as he takes a breather or play side-by-side with him if their opponents run a big lineup.
And he’s on an expiring contract, which is probably more important to the organization than his basketball skills.
In 50 games, Olynyk averaged 8.1 points on 56 percent shooting, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Additionally, Agbaji is a young shooting guard who’s still on his rookie contract. I don’t know much about him but it looks like the Raptors will try to forge him into a player they can use in the future.
Second, they brought in the Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie, whom they apparently immediately waived.
The Raptors had to part ways with Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young to get this deal done.
Though I liked Schroder as the Raptors’ secondary point guard, this trade had to be done to relieve their cap space.
So, how do you think the Raptors did in regards to trades? Did they get better? Did they set themselves up for a bright future?
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