The Athletic, the Golden State Warriors’ front office called the Toronto Raptors to see if they were interested in trading wing OG Anunoby in a similar deal before sending Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards in a trade package for Chris Paul. Masai Ujiri, Raptors president of basketball operations, was not interested, as reported by Kawakami.
Kawakami wrote, “I’m told one of the Warriors’ calls was to check with Toronto about a proposal centered on Poole for 25-year-old forward OG Anunoby.” In any case, the Raptors weren’t intrigued.”
Due to his youth, contract, and proximity to free agency, Anunoby’s name has been the subject of trade rumors for some time. Anunoby appears to be a trade chip that could help improve other roster positions given that the Raptors already have comparable wings in Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher, and Pascal Siakam. However, Ujiri has not let any of the team’s wings leave the team thus far.
It’s clear why the Warriors chose Anunoby. He is a great defensive player who can guard multiple positions. This could help the team lessen its reliance on Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green on that side of the floor. Over the course of the past three seasons, Anunoby has consistently been an effective scorer on offense, averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 38.2% from three, 53.5 percent from two, and 79.8% from the free-throw line. He’s likewise captured 5.3 bounce back per game.
Even though Anunoby has a player option in his contract that probably means he will leave the Warriors in the offseason, he will make less than $19 million next season, which would have cut the Warriors’ luxury tax burden significantly if they had traded for Poole. As a matter of fact, to assist with matching pay rates, Brilliant State could have wanted to reclaim Otto Doorman Jr. to add another floor-spacer to the list.
If Anunoby does end up being traded, the Dubs still have options available to them. Nonetheless, the Raptors would either must be enchanted with the possibility of adding Chris Paul or a bundle worked around Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Ill humored. The Warriors will proceed with CP3 for the time being.