Lots of smoke from the 6, but no fire
Damian Lillard has been traded by the Portland Trail Blazers, and not to the Toronto Raptors. He’s off to the Milwaukee Bucks, in a three-team deal. Nobody among the supposed (or self-proclaimed) NBA insiders identified the Bucks as even being involved in cursory, let alone serious, dialogues with Trail Blazers management. We should bear this debacle in mind next time we hear the experts pontificate.
The way this trade shook out reminds me of the Vince Carter one, which ruined the Raptors for nearly a decade. Once Vince made clear his desire to leave town, the Raptors were never going to get a decent return. Rob Babcock, the overmatched General Manager at the time, got instead an indecent one when he accepted the New Jersey Nets’ ludicrous offer. The Lillard deal isn’t as terrible for Portland, but they didn’t get the wonderboy they were hoping for. However, Jrue Holiday and DeAndre Ayton are proven NBA players. Holiday is already being discussed as a trade candidate; at 33, he’s too old to make a meaningful contribution to Portland’s rebuilding effort, which is years from completion. I’d like to see him in a Raptors uniform, but I doubt that will happen. Toronto’s rebuild is further along than Portland’s, but our guys are still two seasons away from serious contention.
Anything else cooking? Not much
All right, so the Lillard situation is now resolved, and Masai Ujiri didn’t mortgage the Raptors’ future, despite being identified as the frontrunner to acquire the brilliant guard’s services. What does the future hold for Toronto’s roster as training camp cranks up? I have huge doubts about Masai’s interest in a Big Deal, as there are no gaping holes, nor is anyone likely to be playing out of position. Every position on this team is going to be a struggle for contenders to seize, and to maintain.
Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, was recently asked about their latest acquisition, Chris Paul. He replied “We have six starters.” Indeed. The Raptors don’t have the luxury of a future Hall-of-Famer like Paul coming off the bench, but our rotation should be quite deep anyway. If we assume the starters are: J. Poeltl, P. Siakam, OG Anunoby, S. Barnes, and D. Schroder, that leaves talents like: G. Trent, P. Achiuwa, C. Boucher, and G. Dick to pop off the bench. What does that mean for O. Porter, J. McDaniels, T. Young, G. Temple, M. Flynn, J. Dowtin, and a bunch of other hopefuls? Stay ready, and in the case of marginal talents like Markquis Nowell and Mouhamadou Gueye, learn how to sleep on a bus. You will be travelling the hinterlands with your fellow 905ers.
Oddly enough, having too much talent might prove a problem for rookie head coach Darko Rajakovic. In the NBA, coping with disgruntled players is Job…well, not One, but not Ten either. Can Darko find enough minutes to keep everyone on board? He can’t afford to ‘lose the room’, as they say. Undeterred by the likelihood of a cracked crystal ball, like those of so many others, I offer this prediction: Masai will make a deal before the season opens, though not a blockbuster, i.e., the starters stay. Somebody may need to be bought out, or traded to an under-the-cap team in exchange for the draft rights to a retiree or other make-believe asset.
My forecast of a 41-41 Raptors record is unaffected by the big trade, but I now believe Milwaukee is the best team in the East, nudging Boston aside.
- Tags: Masai Ujiri, Toronto Raptors
