The Toronto Raptors won their first ever NBA championship in 2019 over the Golden State Warriors, but since then, Toronto has slowly been declining. They lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year in the NBA Bubble and this year, the Raptors only won 27 games, their least amount of wins in a season since the 2011-12 season.
This year, the Raptors took a massive step back and while injuries played a huge role in them not being as successful as they had hoped, this franchise still has a lot to sort out this offseason.
After opting not to trade Kyle Lowry at the NBA trade deadline, the Raptors now have a decision to make about his future in Toronto since he is an unrestricted free agent.
Not only is Lowry’s free agency a key storyline to keep an eye on for the Raptors, but the pending free agency of Gary Trent Jr. and the overall future of this roster is something to watch.
Toronto could look to start fresh and go through a quick rebuild process this offseason with the 4th overall pick in the draft, but they could also look to gear up and add more talent in their efforts to get back to the NBA Finals.
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If the Raptors decide to try and quickly rebuild, then both Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet will be two highly talked about guys that will draw interest league-wide. The Raptors do not want to trade either of these guys, but the Chicago Bulls are a team that could be highly interested in VanVleet.
The 27-year-old combo guard is going to be entering his sixth season in the NBA and to this point, he has only been getting better and better as a scorer and facilitator. He averaged a career-high 19.6 points per game this past year and shot 36.6% from three-point range on about 9 attempts per game.
Chicago desperately needs help in their backcourt and with them having two All-Stars in Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, this Bulls franchise is ready to and wants to win now.
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Going out and trading for VanVleet offers them the ability to potentially win now, which is why they could be “all-in” on pursuing him this offseason.
With that said, let’s take a look at what the Bulls would possibly have to give up in a trade that would land them Fred VanVleet, a third key talent to pair next to LaVine and Vucevic in hopes of getting back to the playoffs for the first-time since 2017.
