5 Ideal Trade Targets For The Toronto Raptors

Luol Deng

Admittedly, this is the biggest long shot out of this group, but hey, it never hurts to try.

Like the Raptors, the Miami Heat have a few interesting months ahead as they have a lot of questions surrounding the makeup of their roster.

It’s hard to imagine the Heat value a player on the back end of his career like Luol Deng as a long-term piece, especially when you consider they just drafted Justise Winslow this past offseason.  That thinking alone makes him expendable, even as the team fights for a playoff berth.

While Deng’s best days appear to be past him at this point, he still has a lot to offer to a team like the Raptors.

Deng’s versatility on both ends of the floor fits along nicely with what the Raptors have been doing this year and his shooting efficiency (43 percent from the field, 35 percent from deep on 10 points per game) is always a positive for any team.

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However, a big cloud hangs over any team that thinks about making a trade with the Heat because it’s pretty much a given you’re taking back some dead salary (Hello, Chris Andersen!).

That will likely scare off every team this trade season, but again, if the Raptors are serious of making a deep playoff run, acquiring Deng might be their best bet in making that happen.