HOW ANDREA BARGNANI’S TRADE LED TO A TORONTO RAPTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

HOW ANDREA BARGNANI’S TRADE LED TO A TORONTO RAPTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

[Applause] Canada the NBA title is yours the Toronto Raptors had done it they were NBA champions it happened MSI jiri said it would happen although it didn’t go exactly as he planned we wanted to win in Toronto and we were Toronto yeah the Raptor’s title doesn’t happen without the flap of butterflies Wings it started with Nick’s owner James Dolan and his healthy distrust of yugiri it branches out from 2011 when MSI was GM of the Denver Nuggets and the Carmelo Anthony trade Melo wed out of Denver his preferred destination was New York despite minimal leverage yugiri managed to score a hull from the Knicks four players and four draft picks fast forward to the summer of 2013 when the Raptors poached yujiri from Denver I’m home I love Toronto I love this place he inherited a flawed roster and a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in 5 years his intention was to blow it up with his first move he pulled off the unthinkable again he sent Andrea barani and his bloated contract to the Knicks and acquired a first round pick a couple months later ueri sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento in a Seven Player trade the next Domino was set up he had a deal in place that would send Kyle Lowry to a familiar partner the Knicks part of the business I mean I’ve been in trade rooms before I’m going still go up on my business and I’m going still play my butt off it was all but done but Dolan stepped in and vetoed the trade skittish after being fleeced by ujiri twice already after the trade fell apart Lowry began to Blossom next to fellow future Allstar Demar D rozan some of the best trades that happen the ones that don’t happen those two would lead the team’s unexpected Resurgence roing straight line drive oh with the left hand get out of your seat Jack in 2015 eugi flipped gravis Vasquez one of the players acquired in the gay deal to Milwaukee for second rounder Norman Powell and a future first round pick which became OG an anobi 3 years later D rozan was sent to San Antonio with yakob purle who was selected with the pick acquired in the barani trade coming back to Toronto future finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and Sharpshooter Danny Green Lowry would become a six-time Allstar an NBA champion and arguably the greatest Raptor of all time yugiri tried to tank but in doing so he inadvertently set off a chain of reactions that would lead the Raptors to their 29 title with an assist from Dolan

There were a lot of dominos that fell in place leading up to the Toronto Raptors championship in 2019, but it all started with James Dolan’s distrust of Masai Ujiri, and Ujiri’s masterful Andrea Bargnani trade.