Chemistry is Key as Raptors Head into Trade Deadline Week

The Toronto Raptors have been on a role lately and any trade deadline deals come with the risk of potentially disrupting that

Marc Gasol was the exception, not the rule.

Two things are true: (1) The Toronto Raptors don’t win the 2019 NBA championship without swapping Jonas Valanciunas for Gasol before the 2019 February trade deadline and (2) mid-season trades of that scale rarely work out.

Think for a moment about all the things that had to go right for that trade to work out as perfectly as it did. It required Gasol to come in and pick up Toronto’s complex defensive schemes within a matter of weeks. It required his willingness to change his game offensively, moving from a major part of Memphis’ offense to a tertiary role in Toronto’s. It also required Serge Ibaka to put aside his ego and move to the bench for the greater good of the team.

“He made it easy because he came in selfless, he came in as a passer and as an initiator and a playmaker,” Fred VanVleet said of Gasol on Sunday following practice. “I think that speaks volumes to him individually.”

Right from Day 1, Gasol understood how things worked in Toronto, VanVleet recalled. He came in and made things easier for everyone by sacrificing offensively and doing the much-needed dirty work on the defensive end.

“I don’t know that that’s gonna be the case for every single guy that gets traded midway through the season," VanVleet said. "I would hope that it would work that well every time. I’m not sure that it does."

The NBA isn’t like NBA2K where you can just swap players in and out and things magically fit together perfectly. Every player who joins the Raptors either mid-season or in the offseason talks about how complicated Toronto’s defensive schemes are. Even this year, it took the Raptors almost half the year to gel defensively and become one league’s top defenses over the past two weeks.

Offensively, the Raptors have a good thing going for them right now. The pecking order has been established. Pascal Siakam and VanVleet run things offensively, Gary Trent Jr. mixes in with his fair share of shots, especially when he’s hot, and Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby play their role to a T. There’s a cohesiveness that’s come from playing together.

“We all treat each other as equals and we’re all growing and developing into our own,” VanVleet said earlier in the week.

That’s why finding the perfect fit for a deadline deal is so difficult. Take for example Myles Turner, the Indiana Pacers’ big who on paper fits exactly what Toronto needs. He’s a three-and-D big man who would immediately stabilize the Raptors’ frontcourt with some much-needed defensive rebounding talent. But consider why Turner wants to be traded. He told The Athletic “it’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity. … It’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.” In Toronto, his role would be the same, if not smaller.

Unlike in the draft where the general philosophy is to select the most talented, best player available, the Raptors must seriously consider chemistry ahead of next week’s deadline. Players like Gasol don’t come around all that often. So a word of advice that Toronto's front office surely knows: At this time of year, proceed with caution.

Further Reading

Pascal Siakam shows he deserves a spot in the All-Star Game in victory over Hawks

Fred VanVleet thinks it'll be hard to keep Pascal Siakam out of the All-Star Game

Kyle Lowry & former Raptors share their love for Fred VanVleet