NBA executives are waiting to see which teams are going to sell for this season. There is an early candidate in the Chicago Bulls with Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso possibly becoming available.
Another team could end up being sellers and that si the Toronto Raptors. With rumors of blowing it up at last season’s trade deadline, the Raptors decided to run it back. However, rumors are already heating up, once again.
Gary Trent Jr., Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby are in the final year of their deals, which make them prime trade candidates. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype believes Toronto is a ‘wild card team’ that NBA executives are keeping an eye on:
“Several teams could make a trade for Siakam, including the Hawks, Kings, 76ers, Pacers, etc. The two-time All-NBA and All-Star player will be looking for a max contract, or as close to it as possible this summer, and is HoopsHype’s No. 2 overall free agent.”
An NBA executive said if Toronto is willing to pay up for Siakam, they’ll keep him and the same goes for Anunoby, too.
Scotto says “Toronto is concerned about potential teams who could give Anunoby a shorter-term max contract due to the weak free agent market.”
According to the HoopsHype Podcast, the Philadelphia 76ers are one of the potential teams who could give Anunoby a max contract this summer.
A recent example of this is when Fred VanVleet got a short-term max contract from the Houston Rockets this past offseason that the Raptors didn’t want to match. As a result VanVleet walked for nothing.
As for Trent Jr., his short term extension talks fell through and he will become an unrestricted free agent this summer as well.
If the Raptors continue to be .500 or worse, trades may be coming for them around the trade deadline.
Anunoby and Siakam will warrant a significant return from a contending team, which will jumpstart a potential rebuild.
Kings could target Siakam & Anunoby
There has already been a rumored trade partner for the Raptors, that being the Sacramento Kings.
Coming off their first playoff appearance in 16 years, the Kings could be looking to get aggressive in trade talks to strengthen their roster in a competitive Western Conference.
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