With the NBA trade deadline approaching on Thursday at 3:00 PM EST, there are a lot of different stories swirling. One of the more interesting ones is the story involving the Toronto Raptors being willing to trade Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas to the Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated has more below:
"Perhaps of greatest intrigue, the Toronto Raptors have called Memphis, offering Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry for both Conley and Gasol, league sources told Sports Illustrated. Memphis, sources said, would prefer to receive younger players such as OG Anunoby or draft assets in any exchange with Toronto that would send Conley north. The Grizzlies of course rejected Toronto's initial offer."
While the Raptors' initial trade request was rejected, it's still interesting that they have been willing to move yet another key franchise piece as they seek to win their first NBA title. At 39-16, the Raptors are second in the Eastern Conference, playing really good basketball. I find it both unusual and interesting that they are willing to make such a radical move during the middle of the season.
What will be interesting to see as we head into the trade deadline is whether or not the Raptors actually move Lowry or Valanciunas and if they don't, how both players will respond in the second half of the season. The Raptors' biggest issue has been the mental side of the game and having your star players named in trade rumors could have an effect on team morale. Especially if those players don't get traded.
If I'm a Raptors fan, I'm definitely pleased that my team is willing to make moves, but I might worry they're overplaying things a bit. They've been in need of a guy who can lead them to a title and Kawhi Leonard appears to be up to the challenge. Rather than shuffling the deck, especially during the middle of the season, I might rather see how things go with Leonard before blowing up things even more. It's not like Lowry and Valanciunas have had no success in Toronto, and on the flip side, it's not as if Conley and Gasol have found the recipe for championship success, either.
Change can be good if it's the right kind of change. The kind of change the Raptors appear to be seeking seems to be more cut out of the "change for the sake of change" type of cloth, which isn't always the right kind of change. Sometimes it's better to just stand pat at the trade deadline. Especially when you just added a guy like Leonard into the fold.
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