Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Toronto Raptors
While they found success last season not having a “go-to” guy on their roster, the Toronto Raptors ultimately fell in the playoffs to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Now this year, they are struggling to find any kind of success and find themselves tied for last place in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto needs an established star player and while Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam each were NBA All-Stars a season ago, they cannot do half of what James Harden can do on the offensive end of the court, making the former league MVP and very attractive player for the Raptors to want to target via trade.
We talked a little about how much of an impact Kyle Lowry has had on this roster over the years, but Norman Powell has also had a big impact on this team because of how versatile he is. He can play and defend numerous positions and he is a guy that has accepted his role, either in the starting rotation or off the bench.
Powell had the best season of his career last year, averaging 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and shooting about 40% from three-point range. Him and Lowry combined add up to the production James Harden can bring to the table in Toronto and with them not having a reliable, star-like player, it makes even more sense for them to swap Lowry and Powell for the 8x All-Star.
While trading away all of those first-round draft picks also hurt the Raptors chances of building a young core, they would not have to worry about drafting a young core as a result of having Harden. They would not only have “The Beard,” but they would have Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and even O.G. Anunoby to all be complimentary role players next to Harden.
The Raptors would definitely take a hit defensively, but with the firepower they would have on offense, plus the capability of adding more talent to this roster to pair with Harden, they would definitely be one of the better offensive teams in the league.
Trading for James Harden would be a big decision to make for Masai Ujiri and the Raptors’ front office, but at the end of the day, trading for a superstar player n Kawhi Leonard delivered this organization their first championship ever, so why not try and replicate the success they had last time making a big trade?
