Should The Raptors Trade For Kevin Durant?

Should The Raptors Trade For Kevin Durant?

toronto Raptors are reportedly interested in trading for Kevin Durant and they are reportedly willing to trade Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett to do so what’s up everybody so look um you know obviously I don’t do recaps anymore because there are no games to recap but I decided to hop on here and talk about some of these rumors because I think it would be interesting to discuss um because ultimately the Raptors are in a situation where they are fluid in terms of what they can do this summer uh there are some options and with those options you know sometimes uh an abundance of choice can be a little bit dangerous in the sense that you have too many options to you now that being said uh the Raptors are never one to shy away from getting involved in these conversations they got involved for Damen Lillard they got involved for Donovan Mitchell they got involved for Kevin Durant before they got involved for Giannis and Dumbmpo before they will likely get involved for Giannis and Dumbmpo once he eventually requests a trade if he does and now they are trying to get into the sweep stakes for Kevin Durant not to mention the fact that they also got into the sweep stakes for Brandon Ingram um so I I think the Raptors their MO has always been just from like a a a team building perspective it’s always been to just try and get talent through the door people always bring up Kawawaii but I think there are so many more examples of that even outside of Kawhi Leonard yes um you know the pre- agency thing has been something a lot of people on Twitter have mentioned of course with Brandon Ingram of course with Emanuel Quickley um those are the two most prevalent ones at least recently uh but they did it with Gary Trent Jr as well um they sort of did it with Serge you know when they traded Terrence Ross for Serge although Serge had a couple of years left on his deal the the the Jucks the J the basics of it is that like they like to bring talent through the door by trading some of their guys that they’ve recoup value on or trading picks to be able to do so um and this is the way that I’m thinking of it like you think of the Grievous Vasquez trade right they trade for Grievous Vasquez in that Rudy Gay deal uh he obviously becomes a really intriguing bench guy they flip Grievous Vasquez to the Milwaukee Bucks for two picks one of those picks ends up becoming OG Anobi one of those other picks becomes Norm Powell very very famous um deal that people talk about but there’s also the uh Terrence Ross and a first for Sergy Baka situation and so they got Serge a guy who obviously helped them lead to a championship you think about drafting Yaka Purle and obviously drafting Demar Rosen even though that was pre Messiah Jeriera and trading those guys for Kawhi Leonard and trading a first round pick for that as well you think of the Marasaul trade and it was Giannis Valenunis it was Deon Wright and those two guys were two guys that they drafted and they ended up you know kind of building up their value to the point where they could trade him for a guy who was a former defensive player of the year and was massive in their 2019 championship run and so this has been the way the Raptors like to operate a lot it’s just get talent through the door and hopefully you can recoup that talent you can recoup the value of that talent and then you can either keep them for whatever your championship or playoff core is or move them later on and I think that’s exactly what’s happening with this current version of the roster as well yes they’ve had to go and do their due diligence with the draft they drafted four guys last year and they’ve injected youth through that you know you think of Jamal Shed you think of Jacobe Walter Jonathan Mobo etc but they also traded for Oiabaji they also traded for Kelly Oolen and Bruce Brown and they use two of those guys to go out and get Brandon Ingram right not very different than what we’ve seen them do over the last 10 years they’re likely we’ll see what happens but the likely scenario is that by now from now until probably February of next year uh RJ Barrett’s going to be in trade rumors constantly not because of um you know the Raptors wanting to trade him or anything like that but because Barrett has probably gotten to a point value-wise where at the very least he’s a netneutral contract and with only two years left on his deal and the Raptors obviously becoming increasingly expensive using that salary much like they did using Bruce Brown’s salary the $23 million they can use that to try and go out a bigger better player and that is where the Kevin Durant conversation comes in so Kevin Durant obviously um he’s near the tail end of his career uh that is undoubtedly true and he’s a guy who only has one year left on his deal and Kevin Durant is a guy who according to reports from the Athletic uh according to reports from Jake Fischer uh not necessarily interested in any other team other than the Houston Rockets San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat he was interested in the New York Knicks but the Knicks weren’t that interested in him so now that’s not a possibility um that said the Minnesota Timberwolves are quote unquote lurking per Brian Winhorse uh the Toronto Raptors are quote unquote lurking and the LA Clippers are also lurking and so these teams who uh Durant might not be that interested in uh are trying to get themselves in the door with some sort of trade and so you got to ask yourself like value-wise what does that mean you know what kind of trade could the Raptors do that would be uh would incentivize Phoenix to trade him somewhere that he doesn’t want to go that would allow Durant who which by the way I think like mentally I don’t think Durant is one of those guys who’s like “Yeah I’m going to come in and mail it in and be this kind of toxic dude.” He just likes to play basketball so if he gets traded somewhere I imagine he’d play out that year at the very least he would play out the year and see what happens um so I I don’t think that’s a factor here to be honest with you i think they could trade for him and they wouldn’t have to worry about any sort of blowback in terms of trading for him but still you’re trading for a guy who you don’t know is going to sign a contract extension for you so he could potentially be a rental so you can’t go allin with that so what is the value proposition here because other teams Houston especially San Antonio uh Miami teams that probably he would be willing to sign an extension with what would they offer and it seems as though according to the Athletics some of those offers have been pretty underwhelming uh from the Suns perspective so how do you exceed that offer that that they’re making and also not give up too much that is where I imagine the Raptors are at and from a perspective of like sourcing and information and stuff like that I’m not going to go ahead and tell you that I’m sourced i’m not a guy who runs around sourced and and talking and all that type of stuff yes I I talk to league people i talk to people with uh that work for teams um but I’m not some guy who’s sourced that’s that’s not the the the job requirement here for me truthfully um I think just based on what I have heard and based on me talking to other people it makes a lot of sense for the Raptors to try and make this trade because they obviously will have to make some decisions soon with the roster and that is something that they understand um that there will be decisions that have to be made about this roster as soon as this summer and the reason I say that is because I you know there is a level of pressure from all different angles for this Raptors team to be competitive next season to be a playoff team next season to potentially if they really go out and get that big fish to comp contend for an NBA championship to get back to that level um and this is pressure from multiple different directions it’s from Messiah Jury uh being up for a contract extension it’s from uh you know ownership and and the kind of ownership change that’s going on within the Raptors and MLSSE Foundation and all that type of stuff um that is part of the pressures that you know are are reported but also are kind of you can kind of read the tea leaves and notice that this is this is why the Raptors are operating in the way that they are on top of what I had just mentioned four or five minutes ago in the way that they are typically like this anyways so they like to roll this way anyways but there’s also this added pressure of them needing to do something to prove that what they’re building right now is worthwhile and um I think I think that’s huge because I think that sometimes that level of pressure forces you to make decisions or pull the trigger on trades or transactions or signings that you could maybe think of as an overpay and so this is where I come to the Kevin Durant trade um it’s probably something along the lines of RJ Barrett Yaka Purle and the ninth pick and I imagine maybe something else maybe Elaabaji maybe a future pick um and that gives the Suns you know a big man in Yaka Purle gives them a player in RJ Barrett that they can you know hopefully develop and and allow to grow in the next couple years it obviously gives them the ninth pick and it gives them an extra pick moving forward i think that that would be the deal now if you’re a Raptors fan you’re saying that so much kevin Durant is 37 years old going on 38 I believe um or or he might be 36 going on 37 I can’t remember but uh Kevin Durant’s old and is this team when you take away their starting center are they ready to compete and how would they go out and find a starting center afterwards that these are valid questions and truthfully I don’t think I would pull the trigger on that trade in fact I imagine if the Raptors offered that right now that the trade probably would have already happened um outside of all the other factors you know cuz I I I think Phoenix is in a position where yes they’re going to take into consideration what KD wants but at the same time they’re they’re going to prioritize what they want to do and if that was the offer that’s on the table right now I would imagine Kevin Durant is a Toronto Raptor so what is the drawback here what are they trying to take away from this deal what I would imagine is that they don’t want to trade Yakob Purle and I know this just from kind of talking and and seeing what people have said about Yakob leaguewide there’s a lot of interest in a guy like Yakob Hurle um and I I think ultimately they know that there’s interest in a guy like Jakob and there’s value in in having a center that is wanted but at the same time it’s really hard to replace that uh unless you’re drafting that player you know at number nine maybe Derek Queen is there maybe Kaman Malawatch is there um and you’re really intrigued with either one of those players and maybe that’s your center of the future and maybe all of this hinges on those players being available at the draft cuz instead of the ninth pick you can say “Okay we’ll give you two future picks and we’ll take the ninth pick we’ll draft a guy we’ll give you RJ Barrett and Yaka Purle.” And now it’s Come on Malawatch as your starting center moving forward is that a contending team i don’t know but it’s just something that could happen with this Raptors team um and so that’s that’s sort of where I’m looking at here with the Raptors there is also a version of this trade where it’s R.J barrett and Emanuel Quickley instead and so you’re basically just doing the OG trade but for Kevin Durant uh but that leaves you with uh not a lot of ball handling you’re big you’re a big team that’s undeniably true with KD Scotty and Ingram you just have tons of length and Yakob in the middle uh obviously tons of length there too and you can incorporate a you know Grady or a Jacobe Walter in that lineup and and boy do you have a lot right um there’s there’s a lot there to work with maybe not a ton of shooting obviously KD can shoot the ball very well especially off the catch bi is a decent uh catch and shoot player uh good pick and roll ball handler can kind of alleviate some of the ball handling pressure off of Scotty Barnes but you still need another guard right and is Jamal Shetty Jamal Shed Jamal Shetty Jamal Shed ready to to step up in that environment where you’re trying to compete for a championship i’m not necessarily sure so truthfully any kind of machination of what the trade is for Kevin Durant leaves a lot to be desired from the Raptors perspective in terms of what team they could field outside of that uh you know Ochai Baji is another player they could insert into that lineup but still you kind of question like what is the way the Raptors are trying to compete next year if they’re trying to trade for Kevin Durant you look at the Thunder team and it’s just wild amounts of depth wild amounts of defensive talent and athleticism and while I think a Kevin Durant Scotty Barnes Brandon Ingram uh trio fills two of those boxes i think depth is a very prevailing and important part of this playoff run that we’ve seen over the last couple of years and it’s becoming increasingly important in the NBA currently so how do you fill out that depth maybe it is by leaps from some of your your younger players maybe Grady gets better maybe Jacobe gets better mobo shed maybe you draft someone this year that that gets better um but you kind of put yourself behind the eight-ball again um and it might not be for a player that’s going to be sticker around for a while right it might just be for a rental and if you’re just doing it for the one year I don’t personally see the value of that um that said it depends on the trade you know if the offers are truly terrible from the Spurs from the Rockets from the Heat and all you have to do is RJ Barrett Yaka Purle and and you know a pick then yeah maybe that’s worth it you know and you kind of get Kevin Durant through the door and you worry about finding a center later and you you go out and you spend another first round pick to go out and get another center um yeah that’s that’s sort of the way that I’m thinking of it uh I’m not necessarily a fan of them trading for Kevin Durant in terms of uh it being the differencemaker for them i think Giannis is an entirely different equation and I think Giannis would be worthwhile but of course he would cost much more likely would cost you Scotty Barnes um but in terms of Kevin Durant himself I don’t necessarily see the vision here um and it it really just comes down to what the trade looks like and if the Raptors are able to pull it off without incorporating Yaka Purle I’d be a little bit higher on the deal because it it makes sense towards what I think works in the NBA now uh or if they find another center that they think works well uh you know either via trade or via free agency or through the draft that’s another way that I could be sold on this but as it’s currently constructed or as it’s currently being presented to be which is the yaka purle RJ plus stuff uh trade I don’t necessarily see it and I honestly don’t know if Phoenix would do it either I don’t know you know uh Because if Houston is offering like I don’t know Jabari Smith Jr and Jaylen Green or maybe Jabari and and some other guys and and maybe a pick or two i feel like that would be more enticing to me if I was Phoenix you know because I really like Jabari Smith Jr as a player he obviously younger than Yaka Purle um you know good stretch four that can kind of play defense and very versatile if you’re San Antonio and if San Antonio is trading Deon Vel I think Devin Vel is better than Yakob Purle uh although you know they’re kind of very different players so it’s hard to compare i think Yakob generally is a more impactful player right now but Vel is younger has more kind of upside if you will um and if they’re incorporating the 14th pick then it’s sort of like a value proposition so maybe the But I don’t I don’t know if the Spurs are even entertaining that idea right uh and if the Heat I think the Heat offer is something the Raptors could very easily beat right because I I don’t think the Andrew Wiggins plus stuff uh thing is enticing at all truthfully uh yeah that’s where I’m at on Kevin Durant uh but look the the Raptors are going to be involved in a lot of stuff uh I I can guarantee you at this point that either they’re going to trade down if they don’t f if if their guy is not available at nine if cuz there’s a guy that if they their guy is not available at nine they’re probably going to trade down that’s my guess at this point i’m not I’m not sold on that but that would be my guess at this point uh and the reason I say that is because I just think the Raptors are one of the teams in the lottery that uh feels like they can afford to move down um and maybe get some other stuff and it especially it depends on if their guy is available that’s the other thing you know if they trade back with the Hawks for 13 and they think that their guy that they wanted at nine could be there at 13 then they can get a future first or another first in this first round to be able to you know kind of get that that’s a that’s a fair trade to make um but I do think the Raptors will be active all summer and that is why I will be active too so you’ll see me do a couple of these videos maybe a few of these videos a month just talking about some rumors that are happening and uh this one was about Kevin Durant and if I think the trade should happen and my answer no I don’t think trade should happen we’ll see though hey I change my mind frequently and they can sell me on anything anyways folks as always uh like comment subscribe do the things you guys do for Raptors Republic we appreciate you guys tuning in thank you for rocking with us all summer thank you for tapping into our podcast as usual we got a lot of good stuff coming with the NBA draft our draft coverage is top-notch in my opinion I think it is the best draft coverage for the Raptors um anywhere yeah okay anyways cool i will see you guys later bye-bye

The Toronto Raptors have reportedly been ‘lurking’ for the chance to trade for Kevin Durant. Should they do it? Esfandiar Baraheni predicts what happens next.

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