Toronto Raptors Dame trade ideas and rumors

I think you take the Toronto offer to Goodwin and Dame and say 'we're going to take this deal. if you aren't down with this trade, we are going to take you into the season and you'll play for us.. If you want to go to Miami now, they need to put their chips in, because we like this offer better.'

 

In addition to this, Toronto's Kahwai experience will add some hesitancy

 

I’d just take the deal and tell Dame to deal with it.

 

Winning a championship?

 

Not sure you're grasping this. Dame not being onboard will dissuade Masai from making the offer. There is no "deal" without Dame being on board.

 

That only works if theres an actual offer in the table and the Raptors are committed to more forward.

I think the Kahwai experience has them being a bit more cautious right now.

 

Them winning a championship??? Only this time they'll have at least three seasons and probably four seasons with the guy they acquire under contract so there's no chance that he's just a rental.

 

Unless Dame requests out again and they're left with a guy owed 200+ mil who doesn't want to be there. That is what Goodwin and Co have threatened via their spokesmen at The Athletic.

 

Being disgruntled & walking away after 1 season without compensation.

Sure they won a championship - but they were one lucky bounce away from being a second round exit team vs Philly.

There is no guarantee that Toronto with Dame even makes the playoffs. An injury to Dame/Siakam could torpedo their season.

I doubt there is an 'offer' on the table from Raptors. Right now, everything is 'negotiating' until they can be sure that Dame is on board as well

 

All reports were that Kawhi was not on board and he only had one year left. They won a title. If anyone is going to take the risk, it’s Toronto.

 

That’s the media narrative … the one from Goodwin … from Miami … the one from player empowerment.

Lillard going to a team that is a contender with him on it is ALL that matters for his buy in. It’s what he’s always talked about — Having a shot. Otherwise, his reputation is crap AND that is just NOT what I think of him. Something no one who isn’t selling Miami-only is selling when considering Lillard’s very public statements for years.

 

That would make Dame look like the biggest bitch in the history of the NBA. He can’t play the “I want to win” card.

 

Exactly.
100%

 

All that matters is that they won. Would you not take that same risk? I would blow up this entire fucking team if it guaranteed us a ring.

 

that's why i used the word 'offer'. my post above states that toronto noise means nothing. it has to be an offer from toronto.

 

by the way, all of this <gestures> is more about getting miami to their max offer than it is about executing a deal with toronto. and I dont think they want anything less than that max outlay with other teams involved.

 

They took a risk that their 'culture' could convince him to stay. They were lucky and won the title.

How much would this narrative change if that shot vs Philly would've bounced out and they were a second round exit team?

If anything, I would say they are more conservative now.

That's just it. There are no GUARANTEES

 

But Dame isn’t a free agent. He can’t leave and he has no excuse to demand it.

 

I have addressed this point. And I have good reason to believe this is straight from Goodwin's mouth.

https://theathletic.com/4883753/2023/09/22/nba-lillard-harden-trades-load-management-training-camp/


With Dame, I think the Harden-esque escalation wouldn’t happen unless he were dealt to a team like, say, Toronto, where he clearly doesn’t want to be. And for everyone who cites the Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard trade as an example of a team winning the risky bet on a player who wanted to be elsewhere, let’s not forget that Kawhi was only one season away from free agency at the time.

Lillard, by very significant contrast, has four very expensive seasons left on his contract (including a player option worth $63.2 million in 2026-27). It’s one thing to roll the dice for a season and hope it works out, and quite another to take on a deal worth $216 million and brace for the potentially disastrous fireworks that might unfold from there.

 

Toronto name drop here is not a coincidence.



This was Goodwin's effort to prevent Masai from making an offer. This was 2 weeks ago.