The Toronto Raptors could be major players ahead of the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline.
They have expiring contracts in Bruce Brown, Chris Boucher and Davion Mitchell that they could look move. However, instead of finding individual deals for each player, Toronto could include those players as part of a larger deal.
TSN’s Josh Lewenberg confirmed that the Raptors are continuing to look into being facilitators in a bigger deal:
“A more plausible scenario is the one that the Toronto Star recently outlined and TSN can confirm that the Raptors would be open to and are continuing to explore: facilitating a bigger transaction.
It’s complicated, and there are plenty of moving parts, but with Brown, Chris Boucher and Davion Mitchell, they could cobble together north of $40 million in expiring contracts. That might be helpful in getting a disgruntled star (like, say, Jimmy Buter) to his preferred destination (like, say, Phoenix) as the third, fourth or even fifth team in the deal, coming away with a few assets (picks or young players or both) for their trouble.
Note, the Cavs acquired Jarrett Allen for their part in helping James Harden get to Brooklyn in a multi-player, four-team trade four years ago. That’s not to say the expectation or cost for this service should be a future all-star, but if you’re opportunistic and the stars align, there is a benefit to being the team that assists somebody else’s big move.”
It would make sense for the Raptors to try and get involved in a potential Jimmy Butler trade. As a result of their involvement, Toronto could get rewarded with draft compensation. Even if the Raptors have to take on long term salary to receive draft picks, it’s something that’s worth exploring.
Butler recently got suspended for two games after missing a team flight, per ESPN’s Shams Charania so it seems like it’s only a matter of time until a deal goes down.
Toronto could end up being the reason why a huge blockbuster trade goes down in the coming weeks.
How Raptors can get involved in Jimmy Butler trade
If a Jimmy Butler trade goes down it’s likely to be a four or five-team trade.
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel outlined a four-team deal that involves the Raptors.
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