Why Davis, Giannis won’t be most closely fits as Raptors seek for measurement

With a 15-11 report and parked in sixth place of their convention, the Toronto Raptors’ season can solely be deemed successful thus far as they return from a five-day break offered by the NBA Cup.

But previous efficiency is not any assure of future outcomes, not when the Raptors head into Monday night time’s assembly with the Miami Heat having misplaced six of seven.  

It’s the second swoon the Raptors have registered even at this early stage within the yr — a four-game skid early within the yr preceded their magnificent run of 13 wins in 14 begins that outlined their November. 

Some patterns have emerged, together with one that would have been predicted by wanting on the Raptors roster breaking coaching camp: after beginning centre Jakob Poeltl, the Raptors’ subsequent largest participant is Sandro Mamukelashvili, who checks in at six-foot-nine and whose superb function is as a face-up energy ahead, reasonably than a rim-threatening, glass-cleaning, paint-protecting massive.

Sort via the Raptors’ losses and their struggles towards groups with high quality measurement is a typical thread. The New York Knicks hoovered up 36.9 per cent of offensive rebounds (league common is 26.2 per cent) once they knocked the Raptors out of the NBA Cup with their quarter-final trouncing of Toronto on Tuesday. It was an analogous story in latest losses to Boston (31.1 per cent), the Lakers (34.1 per cent), and one other loss to the Knicks (49 per cent) earlier than that.

This isn’t information. The Raptors are twenty first in defensive rebounding proportion on the season. And whereas there isn’t a single cause the Raptors have struggled over the previous eight video games, lacking RJ Barrett for the previous 9 with a knee damage didn’t assist, nor did enjoying seven occasions in 11 days.

In a league the place groups are enjoying larger lineups and pursuing offensive rebounds has change into a strategic precedence — this yr, 11 groups are grabbing not less than 27 per cent of their misses the place 5 seasons in the past the New Orleans Pelicans led the NBA at 26.3 per cent — the Raptors are at an obstacle the second the ball goes up most nights, doubly so when Poeltl is managing his wonky again. 

Scheme isn’t the issue.

“I would say we go into the game thinking we can get it done,” stated Scottie Barnes, who does the Raptors’ most convincing impersonation of a paint-protecting massive when Poeltl isn’t enjoying. “(But) you already know, the outcomes come out in another way. 

“We’re confident. We work on trying to box out. We know we need a box out. Sometimes it’s long rebounds. (But) sometimes they got some big f—— guys in there and they just grab it right over us. You know, we’re trying. We’re fighting. We’re trying to find other ways to attack them on that end. It’s all about finding ways and methods in the NBA to try to win.”

It’s not precisely a cry for assist from the Raptors’ greatest all-around participant and second-leading rebounder, however an acknowledgement of a roster shortcoming that merely attempting tougher can’t repair.  

All of which is particularly related now, given Dec. 15 marks the very unofficial opening of the commerce season throughout the league, constructing as much as the Feb. 5 commerce deadline. As of Monday, most gamers who signed contracts within the low season are eligible to be traded, rising the pool of gamers who could be included in trades, actual or imagined. 

So, if the Raptors are within the temper to shore up their weaknesses, that is the time.

What path the Raptors select — going massive or filling within the gaps extra modestly — would be the theme of the following six or seven weeks. With 100 per cent confidence, we are able to say sure, a change will come. The Raptors are at present (per Spotrac.com) $772,000 over the luxurious tax threshold. Staying over that dividing line at season’s finish could be irresponsible. Not solely would the Raptors must pay $772,000 in tax, however being over the brink would imply the Raptors would additionally miss out on being one of many groups that take part within the end-of-year money distribution that paid out roughly $11.5 million to twenty groups (the Raptors included) final season. 

So, in some form or type, the Raptors are going to make a transfer, one thing common supervisor Bobby Webster has hinted at pretty broadly. 

How massive a transfer, although, is the query. 

The Raptors have been linked to Anthony Davis of the Dallas Mavericks, probably the greatest bigs within the NBA and a participant who would seemingly resolve a variety of issues in a single fell swoop. 

Mileage varies on how sensible a commerce like that may be, particularly given Davis’s contract scenario would doubtless give him some leverage over the place he could be dealt. 

The concept that Davis could be out there was simpler to make sense of within the early days after former Mavericks common supervisor Nico Harrison was fired again in early November. The concept of the Mavericks punting on 2025-26 and securing a excessive lottery choose in 2026 — the one first-round choose they management till 2031 — made loads of sense when the Mavericks began the season 5-15. But they’ve gained 4 of 5 video games since Davis returned from a calf pressure and have stated out loud that they plan to maintain the soon-to-be-33-year-old 10-time all-star. 

Should the Raptors be in on Davis? There’s an honest case for it, on condition that the NBA appears to be shifting away from the development of the previous decade or so the place groups have been throwing round future draft compensation like so many dried leaves on a late fall day. If the worth is low sufficient — matching wage, a younger participant and a future choose — and got here with no expectation that the four-year, $275 million extension Davis could be eligible to signal subsequent summer time was pre-ordained, properly, the Raptors must assume lengthy and onerous on it.

But anticipating Dallas to chew on a deal that almost definitely contains two of Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — every of whom has important future wage commitments — is one other query. And if Poeltl is within the deal, the Raptors’ lack of crew measurement could be evident each time Davis sat or missed time with damage — a not-insignificant consideration given he’s averaged simply 52 video games performed over the previous 5 years.

Perhaps an important consideration is whether or not buying Davis — a win-now transfer — would make the Raptors a crew that may contend for spot within the NBA Finals. Is ‘maybe, but probably not’ a ok cause?

Similar logic follows the opposite massive title percolating within the commerce rumoursphere in Bucks famous person Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s youthful, having simply turned 31, and a extra impactful participant, having completed no worse than fourth within the MVP voting for seven straight seasons. He can elevate groups. But the acquisition value — presuming the Bucks are planning to deal him — would undoubtedly be larger, doubtless requiring some mixture of Poeltl, Barnes, Barrett or Agbaji to make the cash work, together with a major swath of the Raptors’ draft capital. Would the Raptors have sufficient taking pictures to optimize Antetokounmpo’s rim-crushing methods? Would they’ve sufficient depth to compete? How would they optimize their roster extra totally long run with out the draft property wanted so as to add expertise or make trades?

As properly, there may be the truth that Antetokounmpo — with a participant choice price $62.7 million on his contract for 2026-27 and eligible for a four-year extension price $275 million on Oct. 1, 2026 — may have appreciable affect on the place the Bucks would possibly deal him, ought to it come to that. Does becoming a member of what could be at greatest a mid-tier contender — even along with his presence — look like a path a title-chasing Antetokounmpo would select?

Still, there are different paths the Raptors might take which could make extra sense on condition that this complete ‘winning’ factor is fairly recent proper now. I’m undecided it’s affordable to say the Raptors are in Year 2 of a rebuild, as head coach Darko Rajakovic characterised it on Sunday, given their beginning lineup has a mean age of 26.6 and a mean wage of $31.3 million, however they’re comparatively younger — Poeltl is the one 30-year-old within the rotation and their bench is even youthful nonetheless. It’s truthful to say it’s a crew that’s nonetheless in a development stage.

So maybe a most popular resolution could be so as to add a depth massive in a transaction that retains Poeltl whereas solely trimming their surplus of overlapping wings, the place Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamison Battle and even two-way gamers AJ Lawson and Alijah Martin are in a continuing battle for minutes, with little for Rajakovic to decide on between them. 

There would appear to be choices. 

One of the Mavericks’ different centres, Daniel Gafford, is somebody the Raptors have thought of earlier than. He’s an athletic lob menace, dependable finisher, first rate rebounder, and the 27-year-old is within the first yr of a manageable three-year, $54-million contract. A deal involving Agbaji, Dick and Garrett Temple works on paper. 

Another choice might be Robert Williams III, who seemed distinctive towards Toronto whereas visiting with the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this month. Williams’ damage historical past is regarding, given he’s performed simply 250 video games in eight seasons. But he’s appeared in 15 of the Blazers’ 24 video games this season and is averaging 13 rebounds and 4 blocked photographs per 36 minutes. He’s within the final yr of a deal that pays him $13.2 million, a quantity the Raptors might get to in a deal constructed round Agbaji, Temple and Jonathan Mogbo.  

Perhaps probably the most attractive deal for a giant is likely to be Orlando Magic centre Goga Bitadze, who paired with Mamukelashvili efficiently on the Georgian nationwide crew this summer time and is within the second yr of a three-year contract. The 26-year-old is averaging 13.1 factors, 11 rebounds, and a pair of.8 blocked photographs per 36 minutes in 25 video games. The Magic’s massive man rotation will get crowded when Mo Wagner returns from damage within the coming weeks, and their wage construction is getting expensive with max or near-max offers on the books for Franz Wagner, Paulo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs. Given the Magic are low on draft capital after the Bane deal this summer time, maybe Agbaji’s expiring contract, paired with Temple’s or Mogbo’s and a protected future first could be attention-grabbing to Orlando.  

There are another names that may match the invoice: Kevon Looney has fallen out of the rotation in New Orleans however was dependable in a backup function for the Warriors and is on an $8 million cope with a crew choice for subsequent season. The Brooklyn Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe is owed simply $6.2 million this season and thus represents an reasonably priced potential resolution. And whereas combing via the cut price bins, would utilizing a second-rounder or two to see if the mini-bump well-travelled former No. 2 choose Marvin Bagley III is having with Washington (14 factors/8.7 rebounds/1.2 blocks in 27.5 minutes over his previous six video games) is actual? He’s simply 26 years outdated and on a one-year minimal wage. The draw back threat is non-existent, and the upside is attention-grabbing on the very least.

Regardless, the necessity is evident: the Raptors must discover a approach to get larger each behind Poeltl and as a type of insurance coverage when Poeltl can’t play if they will be meaningfully aggressive this season. 

If we acknowledge that making a transfer for Antetokounmpo falls nearer to pipe dream territory, their largest swing could be on Davis. But there isn’t a certainty the Mavericks are concerned with making a commerce or that Davis is concerned with enjoying in Toronto at this stage of his profession. And are the Raptors actually able to tackle the dangers of buying and selling for an getting older, costly participant on the lookout for yet one more payday, all whereas carving out on the core of a Raptors lineup that’s fairly lean as it’s?

Alternatively, the Raptors can settle for that shoring up the comparatively easy-to-fix cracks of their basis as they transition from their short-lived rebuild to relevance within the Eastern Conference is an affordable intermediate step and act accordingly.

Be affected person and hold constructing could be my unsolicited recommendation on the right way to proceed from right here.