The Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls are in a bit of an awkward place. They are not quite bad enough to outright tank, given that they have all-star caliber players like DeRozan, Lavine, and Siakam (as well as Vucevic to some extent, but it seems he is declining). They also have a good amount of talent and young players such as Gary Trent Jr, Scottie Barnes, Coby White, OG Anunoby, Poetl, and Caruso.
Overall, both of these teams have multiple players that championship teams would want on their roster. These teams also seem to be a bit stuck, and have been fairly mediocre in the last few seasons, either being a low playoff team or play-in team.
These teams are not going to win a championship, but are not playing badly enough to a point where they could land some potential franchise cornerstone (i.e. a Chet or a Wemby via top 3 pick). It’s time to blow it up.
Now, assuming these teams blow it up at some point in the season, which teams do you think would likely be the buyers? For instance, I could see the Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers making a run at Lavine Siakam, or DeRozan to form some kind of big 3 to combat the Suns, Bucks, and Celtics.
I think both teams already fucked up.
Should have made trades in the offseason. Or last season.
I remember reading shit like, “The Raptors refuse to give up Scottie Barnes in a KD trade.” Scottie fucking Barnes!! The Raptors should have given up Prime Scottie Pippen for KD. And in general, so sick of hearing about how the Raptors have 112 great trade assets.
Chicago is in no better shape. LaVine scored 51 last night. Which helped Chicago only lose by 16 to what may be the worst team in the league.
The problem both Toronto and Chicago will have is that there are real teams with smart front offices. Neither the Bulls or Raptors have winning players, so they will have to take back shitty contracts and a 2092 second round pick.