How This Trade Impacts Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have to make the difficult decision about what direction to take their franchise. The departure of Kyle Lowry provides them a chance to reset and in this scenario, they do it.

Pascal Siakam is entering his prime, but the team takes the opportunity to retool the roster and add some long-term assets in this deal. The centerpiece of this deal is the acquisition of James Wiseman.

Wiseman has a ton of potential but needs the reps to get back into the swing of things. He has not played a lot of basketball recently, as he played only three games collegiately with Memphis. He followed that up with only 39 appearances in his rookie season, so he needs more game reps to start realizing his potential.

While he is the long-term piece, Andrew Wiggins will help keep them competitive now. He will be motivated by returning to Toronto and playing for the hometown Raptors. He was turning into a solid two-way wing last season with the Golden State Warriors, knocking down 38 percent of his 3-point attempts and playing solid defense on the wing.

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Wiggins will combine with OG Anunoby as two excellent two-way players on the wing. They will be interchangeable at the forward spots depending on matchups. He is also a year younger than Siakam, so should things work out, the Raptors could keep him long-term as well.

The unprotected first-round pick likely won’t be lottery-bound as the Warriors will seemingly be contending again in the Western Conference. But, you never know what will happen, as the Warriors did spend the last two drafts in the lottery. At the very least, it is another asset Toronto could use in trade negotiations.

Do the Warriors feel as good about this trade? Let’s take a look at it from their perspective.