They’re better. Any way you look at it, from any angle – short term, long term. Offensively or defensively. In terms of depth, experience and versatility, the Toronto Raptors are a better team than they have ever been before.
A limping, sagging, team added a high-end starter and a quality rotation player, both perfectly fitting areas of specific need.
It’s the way that trade deadlines are supposed to work, but rarely do.
“I say that with all respect you know, I honestly can’t tell until we go out there and play,” said Raptors president Masai Ujiri when asked if this was the most complete team he’s had in Toronto. “But on paper when you fill it out, OK here we have a point guard, we have backup, we have shooting guard, we have backup, three, we have backup, four, we have backup, five, we have 10 backups. So I think that [this is their best lineup], you hope it works out.”
Their highest-profile acquisition, Serge Ibaka, is a tough-minded professional – the prototype for the modern big man — who wants to make an impact in Toronto. When his flight from Orlando was cancelled on Wednesday, he leased a private plane to make sure he was at work with his new team.
“I was very excited,” he said about being traded. “Because I was going to be a better place, a better team. And I love to compete at a high level, so it’s a great opportunity.”
And the deal to add P.J. Tucker just under the wire at the 3 p.m. trade deadline? That was classic Ujiri who – along with general manager Jeff Weltman – has consistently made one shrewd move after the other. Ujiri hates to overpay and once again he assessed the marketplace for potential competitors who could or would top his best offer; recognized they were few-and-far between and then had the nerve to wait until the Phoenix Suns blinked.
The Suns have been asking for a first-round pick for Tucker, the rugged, defence-first wing player that the Raptors picked in the second round in 2006 since last season. With the clock ticking on their pending free agent they finally balked and agreed to take Toronto’s second-round picks in 2017 and 2018 along with the expiring, salary-matching contract belonging to Jared Sullinger.
The only disappointment on the day? That Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry’s private plane couldn’t get him back from his Caribbean vacation in time for noon practice. DeMar DeRozan was absent also, though he was attending a family funeral.
The pair had already been excused from practice on Wednesday so they could get a break post all-star weekend.
On a day when the Raptors looked so good, having their leader get burned because he cut his return too close was a bad look. Fellow all-star Isaiah Thomas was at the Boston Celtics practice on Thursday; likewise John Wall with Washington; Kyrie Irving with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Paul Millsap with the Atlanta Hawks.
But presuming Lowry emerges sharp and picks his game up where he left off before the break, everything will be forgiven. Ujiri refused to make it an issue: “To be honest I would rather Kyle does nothing until we play. He needs all the rest he can get. I said it to him in New Orleans, go get some rest.”
That Ujiri was able to get Tucker is a bit of a turnaround. On the night of the 2014 draft with the Raptors picking 20th and the Suns picking 18th Phoenix tried to squeeze a concession from the Raptors in exchange for flip-flopping picks, knowing the Raptors were hoping to take Canadian Tyler Ennis. Ujiri said no thanks and ended up taking Bruno Caboclo. Time will tell if that choice ever works out but it seems reasonable to assume that Ujiri’s reputation as someone who will walk away before making a bad deal helped the Raptors get the kind of depth piece successful playoff teams always seem to have for two late second-round picks.
What does Tucker bring?
This was the report provided me by one Western Conference team: “Tough as nails, will defend anyone and everyone. Guys he guards want no part of him.”
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Is he a ‘LeBron stopper’?
Of course not. There is no such thing. But if you’re going to defend the Cavaliers superstar by committee, having a guy like Tucker working the front door while Ibaka waits to greet him at the rim with as many other bodies in between as possible seems like a reasonable plan.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody that can deal with that guy but you know, you try,” said Ujiri. “At least we feel like you have to put guys on there that are going to try and I know he’s going to try. I know DeMarre Carroll is going to try, I know Ibaka is going to try, I know Patrick Patterson is going to try. You want to put yourselves in the best position.”
And that’s what the Raptors are now as they get set to meet the Boston Celtics Friday night in their final regular season meeting with the team that has emerged as the most likely threat to prevent the Raptors from a repeat appearance in the Eastern Conference finals.
They have a plan. Maybe even hope. They’ve gone from having black hole at power forward – according to 82games.com the Raptors have a -3.9 net rating at the position, while Hoopsstats.com has the Raptors with the worst defensive rating at power forward in the NBA — to starting Ibaka; three times a first-team all-defensive team player. They are expected to have a healthy Patterson back to hold together the second unit at the position and quite possibly play alongside Ibaka down the stretch in a defensively versatile lineup with plenty of spacing. Now they have Tucker behind Carroll giving all kinds of options to head coach Dwane Casey.
And they did it all by moving one rotation player – Terrence Ross – a first-round pick that wasn’t theirs in the first place, a pair of seconds and taking on no long-term financial commitments. And while Ross’ shooting will be missed, it’s worth noting that his 96 threes this season have been offset by the 129 that Ibaka and Tucker have made this year.
The Raptors reportedly had discussions about Denver’s Wilson Chandler, but in the end decided against it because it would have required a first-round pick, one of their prospects, and taking on the two years and $24 million on his contract.
Ujiri pledged that his owners have promised that they will pay the luxury tax if he builds a team that requires it – “Any direction we take this team, ownership is ready and they’ll support us 100 per cent. There’s no doubt” — but the beauty of his work to this point is that he still has his own draft picks and a core of young players that he can rely on if the next few months suggest that this isn’t a team that has a chance to win.
They have their work cut out for them, having lost 11 of their past 16 and trailing the Celtics by four games for second place; the Wizards by two games for third and leading the Hawks by a half-game for fourth.
Their short-term goal can only be to squeeze past the Wizards for the third seed, which would likely mean avoiding the first-place Cavaliers in the second round.
But adding Ibaka and now Tucker gives the Raptors the best and most complete lineup they’ve ever had.
Ujiri’s work is done. As he joked on Thursday, his job is to make the deals, and then take his daughter to ballet class, which is where he went between the deadline and the league’s trade call that made the deal official.
Now it’s time for the team he put together to make some music.
