With his huge 43 point explosion in a double-OT loss to the Raptors on Sunday, Beal looked like a player auditioning for a role on a new team. More specifically, he looked like a player auditioning for a role on his opponent. With the Raptors sitting in 1st place in the standings and the Wizards in the midst of another dysfunctional season, there have been rumours that the Raptors are one of the handful of teams interested in acquiring the sharp-shooting guard, who has a history of torching them in head-to-head match-ups.
The Wizards are reportedly looking for 2 players and a couple of 1st round picks in return, which might explain why the Raptors have yet to pull the trigger. While the Raptors are a little light on 1st round picks to offer (2021 would be the earliest they have to move) they do have a lot of young assets to offer. The problem is, it might be too early to offer them.
With the much publicized free agency of Kawhi Leonard coming up this off-season, the Raptors would be wise to sit on those assets until they find out what way Leonard is leaning. With Kawhi gone, players like VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby, and Boucher become the core of the rebuild going forward. Their 2020 1st round pick also becomes available if they wait until after the draft to make a deal, something that gives them more options.
The other benefit of waiting? Well, there might be a bigger prize on the market by then. Standing nearly 7 feet tall, All-Star big man Anthony Davis is not just literally bigger but bigger in every way. Davis is an undisputed top 5 (maybe even top 3) player in the league. He would form the type of 1-2 punch with Leonard that only elite franchises ever seem to pair together. He would give the Raptors two players better than they have ever had in the history of their franchise and make them title favourites for the next five years.
Would Leonard be enough to convince Davis to join? Would adding Davis be enough to make Leonard forget his alleged dreams of sunny California and stay up north? Could the Raptors even make it happen?
Most rumours have Davis heading to Los Angeles to partner up with LeBron James and become the torch bearer for a Lakers franchise that could use a return to glory. But do they have the best trade package? Brandon Ingram has been a bit of a disappointment and it’s hard to gauge just how available Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma are or how much value they have due to inconsistency in their early careers. Would the Pelicans prefer a package of Most Improved Player favourite Pascal Siakam, last year’s 6th Man finalist Fred VanVleet, and the always improving Jonas Valanciunas coming off a monster year over the Lakers offer? Would the Celtics offer Horford’s expiring deal and Tatum? If they don’t include Tatum, would Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier be enough to top the Toronto package? Does it even matter who has the best offer or will New Orleans simply send The Brow to his desired suitor if he flexes his leverage? It’s far too early to tell, but with the Raptors heading into the most important off-season in franchise history, you can be sure the Blue Jays won’t be the only ones swinging for the fences in Toronto this summer.
Rebound + The Assist 