Cavs would be wise to call Raps about potential OG Anunoby trade

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OG Anunoby, Toronto Raptors. (Photo by Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports) /

Potential trade #1:

With this deal, while I get that Caris LeVert has had injury troubles in his career, and there’s streakiness with his three-point shooting, he would provide another solid scorer for Toronto, as a potential go-to bench scoring presence. With the Raptors’ uptempo type style, he could provide another meaningful driver and to some degree, pick-and-roll playmaking option as well.

I acknowledge that LeVert’s on an expiring deal, but perhaps with Toronto’s infrastructure, he could possibly be an eventual long term piece for them. If not, he could be an expiring $18.8 million trade asset. From there, maybe Isaac Okoro could be a player of interest for the Raptors in his proposal, too.

I’ll be the first to admit Okoro has a ways to go on the offensive end, and there has not been much on-ball viability in set offense from him. But he is a much-improved cutter that could be impactful as a finisher and transition target for Toronto, and defensively, he’d provide them with another quality defender. They could potentially buy into his potential as well, considering Toronto has a track record of developing guys like him into solid rotational players.

Lastly, for a sweetener to hedge against the other two not working out, Cleveland includes their #14 overall pick, which they’d trade to Toronto following the 2022 NBA Draft, where the Raps could find a solid developmental piece.

From Toronto’s end, they send out Anunoby here, to prevent a lingering situation with him/his role, and for other near-matching, the Raptors include Precious Achiuwa in the trade. Achiuwa showed encouraging signs last season as a play finisher and interior presence, and would provide a rotational rim protector.

It might be a bit lofty to suggest him, too, but I could foresee him maybe being available, in theory, because of offensive limitations as a shooter, and he’s a bit of 4/5 tweener size-wise at 6-foot-8, with the shot limitations. And plus, the Raptors could potentially land a guy such as Jalen Duren or Mark Williams, both of whom could become their starting 5 in time.