Title: Raptors trade targets: What are Toronto’s options for a centre at the deadline?
Date: March 1, 2021
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I broke down the Raptors potential options on the trade market if they look to acquire a centre.
The Toronto Raptors need reinforcements at the centre position.
Well, they might. Maybe they can lean into playing smaller. Or maybe they should be sellers, positional imbalance be damned. Maybe the turnaround has allowed them more runway to figure things out with the group they have. Maybe, just maybe, 24 days before the trade deadline is a bit too early to serve your readership with trade targets across multiple columns. Nah.
One of the issues with trying to determine a market so early is that the standings are condensed. As of Saturday, the Raptors were in fourth in the East at 17-17, and they were as close to 13th as they were to third. League-wide, only four teams are more than four games out of a playoff spot. How teams value things like play-in spots and an early playoff exit (versus a lottery opportunity) in a lower-revenue year is a legitimate question, too. The West feels pretty wide open in general for a half-dozen or more teams, while the East has a very meaty second tier possibly competing for second-round exits.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 