Analyzing two possible trade destinations for the Toronto Raptors in advance of the 2023–24 NBA trade deadline
The time for trade is almost here. The trade market officially opens on December 15th, when free agents who signed in the summer become eligible for deals, even though teams are free to make transactions whenever they choose. A team like the Toronto Raptors might benefit greatly from this.
The Raptors poked their head around the Damian Lillard sweepstakes before the Portland Trail Blazers dealt him to the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Raptors were frequently mentioned as a potential trade partner.
Obviously, that did not come to fruition for the NBA’s lone Canadian team, but perhaps a trade could arise and help them before the February trade deadline. Toronto re-acquired Jakob Poeltl at the trade deadline last season, and traded a top-six protected first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs to do so. It is very much in the Raptors’ best interests to be competitive this season.
So who could help the Raptors be more competitive in 2023-24? A couple of guards around the NBA could help with that.
Zach LaVine
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that there was ‘an increased openness from both sides about exploring a trade‘ between the Chicago Bulls and All-Star guard Zach LaVine. It makes sense.
The Bulls are going nowhere, the big three of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic has been more mid than big, and the Bulls just extended Vucevic this summer. They are locked into a team of mediocrity unless they begin a fire sale.
With that tweet from Shams Charania, a fire sale could potentially be beginning, and if one were to come to fruition, the Raptors should be in the front of the line asking about LaVine. LaVine has his flaws as a player; he is not the best defender in the NBA to put it kindly and is a fine but not great playmaker.
But he is also one of the best scorers and shooters in the NBA. He ranked 12th out of 36 players in effective field goal percentage and 13th out of 36 players in true shooting percentage among players with at least 20 games played and a usage rate of at least 27% last season, via NBA.com. LaVine can flat out score among the best of them.
The Raptors badly need that infusion of scoring and shooting. Players like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes can score, but only Anunoby is a shooter teams fear from deep. He and Gary Trent Jr. also might be the only consistently solid proven NBA shooters the Raptors have at the moment.
The Raptors have the third-worst three-point percentage in the NBA at 33.3%. Is it a small sample size? Yes, but a year ago, their three-point percentage was 33.5%. They need shooting in the worst way. Zach LaVine is a great way to get some.
Buddy Hield
Zach LaVine might be the best scorer potentially available on the trade market, but he might not be the best shooter potentially available on the trade market. That would be Buddy Hield, who is available.
A couple of months ago, Shams Charania reported that the Indiana Pacers and Hield have ‘started dialogue to work on finding a potential trade’ after the two sides could not come to terms on a contract extension.
Buddy Hield is one of the best shooters in the NBA. For his career, he shoots 40.2% from three on just under eight attempts per game. That’s one of the best clips you’ll find outside of the Bay Area.
Of course, Hield won’t cost as much as LaVine either. Buddy Hield would be a terrific player to target if the Raptors want to increase their shooting in order to boost their offense, which is presently ranked 27th in the NBA.
