The Toronto Raptors were in the hunt for a HUGE trade for Damian Lillard before the player ended up with the Milwaukee Bucks but just how close were the Raptors to making it happen?
Masai Ujiri’s front office had a major opportunity to acquire the superstar point guard but they chose not to after withholding OG Anunoby from trade talks, despite the Raptors forward being on an expiring deal and unlikely to extend.
Instead, it was Jrue Holiday that was good enough to be the centerpiece for this deal, so why did the Raptors not beat the offer? We may never know. What we do know is that we had an opportunity to alleviate the chances of 3 key players leaving the team for free as Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. are also on expiring contracts.
Instead, we walk into another season with no clear direction, and if it fails it could be the last straw for this front office.
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0:00 – Overview
0:27 – Damian Lillard is a Milwaukee Buck
0:49 – How close were the Raptors to making this trade?
1:38 – OG Anunoby’s situation in Toronto
2:51 – This was a huge opportunity to trade OG Anunoby
4:09 – This is inexcusable from the front office
6:25 – This could become the biggest mistake in franchise history
7:43 – OG Anunoby’s value continues to rise
8:57 – Toronto’s contract situation is a very big problem
9:51 – The Raptors may regret this for a very long time
11:37 – Masai Ujiri RANT
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29 Comments
Would you have made this trade?
Masai is holding on to players too long waiting for the perfect deal until they suddenly leave in free agency. He is the opposite of rushed and impulsive….indecisive. Waiting to see what his ultimate plan is now…the play in?
Seems like the front office has zero ambitions for this team!
I can guarantee that decision making in that Front Office & supposedly optics is much more complex than, what meets the eye, thereforso I will give more grace to the Front Office's
If OG leaves that’s literally every single valuable player from the championship (I know OG had appendicitis) except Siakam walking for absolutely nothing. I love Masai but that’s fireable
dame didn't want to be here so it would be hard to go all in on this trade any way you look at it. also, dame deserved to go to a true contender and toronto wasn't it at this point in time. i think the front office is confident that they will re-sign OG. but yes, if OG and/or siakam and/or trent leaves for nothing, then i agree that it's time to move on from the suits.
Why would you want to include OG, when the deal was almost done without OG… y'all are just emotional and don't know what y'all are actually talking about… and if you'd like to debate AmatureHour I'm always around.
All i hear on here is a bunch of whiny bitches. Masai almost had him for nothing. It was the fact that dame didnt want to cone here and portland did him a solid. Think about it. The blazers were going to do the deal with us but dame still said no with all that he would have around that tells me he really was against coming to toronto. Good luck to the bucks we all know how these teams have played out the last few years. Ex the clippers the lakers the nets the 76ers.
We had better offer, Dame didn’t want to come here. He chose bucks and I don’t blame him. Who wouldn’t want to play with Giannis. Our team has no direction to date
So it woudve been Dillard team. Yeah, we should've got a ball-dominant guard who doesn't guard and doesn't want to be on this team. Then through the season wonder why Scottie has progressed. Then turn the hate towards the new coach. The delusion is strong in the young, I get it.
If you traded for Dame, it would have been OG or SB out the door. PDX doesn't want Siakam not matter how much rap fans value him. Take he Hawks deal for Siakam and move on.
Is dame worth OG yes but if you do that deal siakam barnes and Dame. Is unlikely to be good enough to win it all. If you do have OG lillard barnes and siakam then i do think your cooking. So i get them thinking it might be a hollow trade.
you really don't like Masai, do you? VV has the worst contract in the league. We'll be fine
raps fans getting baited by the nba, ill informed media takes, and all of America to push our talent and front office out the door smh
Ppl really aren’t willing to pay OG 35M but are excited to send 40M+ Scottie’s way??? And on top of that concerned about giving GTJ the bag too? Insanity imo
OG > dame. Barnes>kd
We could of have 2 superstar, now we have to chockers in the making. OG is not the guy he cant even handle the ball well
I am concerned about the future cost to the Raptors to have signed Lillard. You have to see what the future holds. I want to see how this present team plays before we panic . We haven't seen Darko coach this team yet without FVV blocking the way.
I also agree with the fact that there is no sense contamplating the Lillard trade when he wouldn't consent to coming to Toronto. You want whatever player that's here being proud and wanting to play here in Canada. I am optimistic that the team will be competitive and that Bobby and Masai will not continue to make the same mistakes and allow players to leave for nothing. I agree too, that they have to secure the future and they actually haven't done a great job of it so far. The only long term deal they have is Poeltl.
I gave up on Masai time ago than when he didn't convert Dowtin i was done…
Not one mention of firing Bobby. Also, Lillard may have been very vocal about not wanting to be here. How would you have felt if we trade OG for what Brooklyn got in Simmons. Keep the faith dude. Not the worst thing in franchise history. Jesus, our franchise has the worst trade in league history.
Damien is an offense player but he is not a defense model. Do not forget about the injury history. He is going to kill the raptors culture. Also Damien lilard doesn't like to play for Toronto. He is going to leave just like Kawhi Leonard. Think about give out our player while most of the American players don't like to play for toronto raptors. Better to trade but the same time we are watching our back-up players
Thank you Masai for not mortgaging your future for a trade that wouldn't move the needle. Dame only makes sense if the core is there
There may be some conflicting news because apparently Dame had the final say and he chose Giannis. Toronto still had the better package even without Og.
i would rather have OG on a contract year
Masai & Bobby really fucked up. If we traded Barnes for KD last year AND OG for Lillard this year …. imagine where we'd be.
We got some dumb ass fans lmao
Yall are so casual. How do we know what Dame was saying to Masai? Maybe he was telling him he's going to request a trade, or not play full out. Maybe that he wouldn't report to camp. Y'all making these wild takes on assumptions. Just like i don't know, y'all dont. Chill out with the fire Masai talk. Why does the ACTUAL GM never get brought up? Even if he consults with Masai, BOBBY is the damn GM making moves.
Relax buddy! Who you working for, Ted Rogers? 😂 First Schroder and now Masai? Chill out my dude. This column sounds more like a player clean-up to make OG less disgruntled about being mentioned in trades. Those Player Swaps Portland got are gold are are most likely why the Raptors lost out on Dame.
I figure the idea is that SB will shift to PG, and the need OG at the 3. In a perfect world, and I mean perfect, in two years you have Barnes (who says he is now 6'10") Dick at SG at 6'9" (maybe), and OG (6'7") on the perimeter. That is MASSIVE. Maybe Gary is okay as the 6th man? Poeltl and Pascal in the frontcourt? Can all be signed? I think so. But also, Dame did not want to come here. He told the NBA, if not Miami, it was the Bucks or Nets. He wasn't coming here, so go easy on Masai. Sure FVV left, big deal. Dennis will fill the role, and it let's SB learn PG.
Dame is an unsuccessful ball hog who doesn't play defense and you feel he'd fit here? Bro do you even play the sport to know how this thing works? Giannis avgs more Ast than Dame but you feel he'd fit? Click bate fuq page sttttrffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu