The Toronto Raptors are feeling hopeful about their new era in the franchise after bringing over former Nuggets exec Masai Ujiri to take over as general manager and now that he has pulled off the most important move for the team in trading Andrea Bargnani to the Knicks, he may have another deal up his sleeve with Rudy Gay or Quentin Richardson.
The team acquired Gay before Ujiri took over and the team received Richardson in the deal for Bargnani, but he has said that he does not want to play for the Raptors, meaning that he could be moved as well. The team received Richardson, Steve Novak and Marcus Camby in the deal, but after buying out Camby's contract, he signed with the Rockets and now with Richardson likely moving on eventually as well, the trade will net the team some salary relief and Steve Novak.
The priority for Ujiri when he took over was to trade Bargnani and now that he has done that he can concentrate on other moves, and he did just that by signing Tyler Hansbrough and Austin Daye to deals. The Daye deal is interesting since he was part of the Gay trade originally that brought him to Toronto and now the Raptors feel they have a solid bench as they move into next season. Ujiri doesn't need to trade Gay and after he got eye surgery he may give him the chance this season, but one option brought up by Bill Simmons at ESPN.com is a move with Granger, as they could swap stars on both ends.
Granger spent the season dealing with a knee injury and while he appears to be healthy and ready to get back on the court, the Pacers may rather deal him and keep the core together from last season that took the Miami Heat to seven games in the series. While that trade is unlikely, one that is involves Richardson, as Ujiri can buy him out like Camby or work on a deal with him to bring another piece to the roster. The Raptors have a solid core with Landry Fields, DeRozan, Novak and Gay and after the way Jonas Valanciunas played in the summer league, the team has real hope for improvement after last year.
The deals for those players are $46 million and that leaves Ujiri some financial breathing room and he is an expert at dealing with those things, much like he did when he traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks from the Nuggets. Richardson signed with the Knicks last season after averaging 10.3 points and 35.5 percent from three during his career and while he could be a solid piece off the bench for the Raptors, he likely will be moved at some point this summer.
