Title: Five players the Raptors should consider if they decide to shop before the deadline
Date: December 19, 2023
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I wrote about potential pre-breakout young players that sellers could target at the trade deadline.
He is leading one of the NBA’s exciting, upstart teams, a team that is competitive perhaps ahead of schedule. Originally drafted elsewhere, his team acquired him in his second season as the key prospect piece in a larger package sending out an All-Star. At the time of the trade, he was well-regarded — a former late lottery pick who made an All-Rookie team — but wasn’t yet considered, or producing like, the star he’d become.
Remarkably, that paragraph could describe two different players.
In 2019, the Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, four unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick, and two first-round pick swaps for Paul George. It was a massive haul for a star that allowed the Clippers to lure Kawhi Leonard as a free agent and eventually made Gilgeous-Alexander the face of the Thunder franchise. It was not, however, a sure thing Gilgeous-Alexander was a star. An 11th-overall pick, Gilgeous-Alexander made All-Rookie Second Team, came sixth in Rookie of the Year voting, and had averaged 10.8 points and 3.3 assists. He had believers around the league (ahem) but probably not to the level of legitimate MVP candidate.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 