The Toronto Raptors currently don’t have a first-round draft pick (it was traded to Houston for Kyle Lowry and later traded to Oklahoma City for James Harden), so seeing the Raptors attempt to re-gain a draft pick would not surprise me. The Raptors do not want to be trading for someone who has already signed into a long-term deal and be put in a position where they have to pay out the rest of a contract, they would only take such a deal for the perfect player. These players would fit in well in the Raptors current system, but the Raptors don’t have high expectations for the Bargnani trade, they would rather lose cap-space and receive a late first round pick, they have very little expectations for what they receive.
Ideally, the Raptors should be trying to trade for these players: Josh Smith (ATL) Rudy Gay (MEM) Paul Millsap (UTAH) DeMarcus Cousins (SAC) Eric Bledsoe (LAC) Charlie Villanueva (DET) Gerald Wallace (NETS) Samuel Dalembert (MIL) Derrick Williams (MIN).
These teams could conceivable bid for Bargnani’s services, especially Dallas (who are looking for talent on an aging roster), but Dallas will likely be looking to add players through free agency instead of via trade, and will most likely be looking for bigger free agents than Bargnani. Nicholson) Los Angeles (P.Gasol) Philadelphia (S. Offensive schemes that already include shooting big men include: New Orleans (R.Anderson) Dallas (D.Nowitzki (similar playing style to Bargnani)) San Antonio (T.Duncan) Phoenix (L.Scola) Orlando (G.Davis & A. Ideally, the Raptors and Bargnani would like to make a deal that helps both parties, meaning sending Bargnani to a team where his 3 point abilities would be utilised, and where the Raptors receive a decent swingman and a first round draft pick. Oklahoma City is looking to add a big man to their roster (but is considered the dark horse in this trade scenario), a trade with OKC would involve Hasheem Thabeet and a lottery pick (originally the Raptors) for Bargnani. The Charlotte Bobcats are also rumoured to have some interest in a D.Diop and a lottery pick for Bargnani trade. Los Angeles has too many issues to conceivably trade any of their players. The trade with the Lakers seems highly unlikely because the Lakers are having more backcourt problems (Nash’s age & Kobe’s off-court issues) than frontcourt problems. Gasol and Jodie Meeks or a draft pick is the trade that is the most rumoured. The Los Angeles Lakers have been in talks on the subject of trading Gasol (and recently D.Howard) for 2 years. The Denver Nuggets are looking to trade Wilson Chandler, but Denver already has 3 big men (McGee, Gallinari & Faried) so dealing a big man to Denver seems unlikely. Randolph), which seemingly eliminates them from a possible trade. The Memphis Grizzlies are looking to trade Rudy Gay, but they already have two powerful big men on their team (M.Gasol & Z. The Milwaukee Bucks Small Forward Ersan Ilyasova for Bargnani seems the most probable, with some decent defensive players and some strong offensive weapons, this trade seems highly likely. Finding the perfect suitor for Bargnani is proving to be difficult with the limited range of teams looking to trade. It was also announced by the Raptors organisation recently that Ed Davis would be replacing Bargnani as the starting Power Forward for the rest of the season, regardless of whether or not Bargnani is healthy. With the acquisition of Kyle Lowry in the off-season speculation of José Calderon being traded arose, but as the season has progressed, Lowry and Calderon have proven to be a potent duo.
The Raptors went 7-1 in the rest of December without Bargnani, it has become more evident that the Raptors are trying to play a different style of Basketball than Bargnani provides. The team has been without Bargnani since December 10, 2012, and the team has experienced success without the 27 year old Italian. Although since Bargnani was first drafted to the Raptors in 2006, his name has frequently come up in trade talks, this year it seems more imminent. The Toronto Raptors are riddled with questions about the Trade Deadline, and specifically Andrea Bargnani’s future with the franchise. The majority of teams begin the push for the playoffs after the Trade Deadline, so they are trying to add key pieces to make the playoffs. Now to the task at hand, as the NBA Trade Deadline approaches, many teams are faced with the issue of re-signing players or paying out contracts. First off, I would like to apologize to the fans of the Sports Life for failing to write an article last week, I was sick.