Folks in Toronto went to bed on Tuesday feeling pretty good. The Raptors had just beaten the Sixers convincingly on the road, their third win in four games. That kept Toronto within 1.5 games of the Bucks in the East and ran Philadelphia’s record against the top teams in the East down to 1-6. Not great for a team Toronto could potentially see in the second round of the playoffs.
But at about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, a nightmare of a transaction went down. Nightmare, at least, if you’re a Raptors employee hoping to fulfill the organization’s yearlong objective: Keeping forward Kawhi Leonard, a free agent this summer, in place.
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The Sixers made a bold trade, acquiring Clippers star Tobias Harris to bolster its starting five, which had been lacking at power forward for most of the season, and had recently lost Wilson Chandler for a few weeks to a quad injury.
The deal gives Philadelphia a fearsome lineup, stacked with shooting and playmaking, and potentially suffocating defensively: Ben Simmons, JJ Redick, Jimmy Butler, Harris and Joel Embiid. Simmons and Embiid are All-Stars, and Harris probably would have been had he played in the Eastern Conference.
The Raptors, of course, have much invested in this season, and even before Philly’s quick-strike transaction, Toronto had been scrambling to make a deal that would fortify their chances at a run to the NBA Finals. The Raptors traded away star guard DeMar DeRozan in the offseason and remain nervous about whether Leonard will re-sign with the team. Raptors brass has hoped that a deep playoff run capped by a Finals appearance would convince Leonard to stay put.
The Sixers trade is a double-whammy for the Raptors. Now, in addition to the Bucks and Celtics, Philadelphia must be considered a conference contender. The second round of the playoffs now figures to be a killer for all four of the top East teams, but especially Toronto. The Raptors are 1-3 this year against Milwaukee and 1-2 against Boston.
But it gets worse for the North. Not only does a strengthened Sixers team give the Raptors another East team to worry about, it cleared out ample cap space for the Clippers, who sent Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott to the Sixers and got back two first-round picks (the Sixers’ in 2020 and the Heat’s in 2021) and two second-round picks, plus Chandler, rookie guard Landry Shamet and big man Mike Muscala.
Without the free-agent hold for Harris in place, the Clippers will have nearly $50 million in cap space on July 1, and the assets to create more space before then. And the Clippers, quietly, have made no bones about their desire to sign Leonard, a Southern California native who has indicated he’d like to return home.
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The dream scenario for the Clippers is a package signing of both Leonard and Warriors star Kevin Durant, and while that may still be a longshot, there is a much better chance of it coming to fruition in the wake of this deal.
The impact of the Harris trade will be felt beyond Toronto. The road through the East just got tougher for both Boston and Milwaukee. The Celtics, still with an eye toward acquiring Pelicans star Anthony Davis in a trade this summer, are unlikely to do much before Thursday’s deadline.
The Bucks have been actively seeking to add depth and traded away big man Thon Maker for Pistons wing Stanley Johnson on Wednesday. Milwaukee could yet have another move in the offing for frontcourt help. The team was mentioned as a potential landing spot for Davis, too, but nothing is likely on that front before Thursday.
The Raptors have been exploring trades big and small. Toronto is said to be willing to include star guard Kyle Lowry in a deal, going back to the team’s interest in Washington’s Bradley Beal (which went nowhere) and now, its interest in Grizzlies guard Mike Conley and, possibly, center Marc Gasol. The Raptors are also expected to be very active in the post-deadline buyout market.
The bulk of the pressure is in Toronto. This dalliance with Leonard was always going to be a one-year gamble for the Raptors, something that could implode catastrophically if the team couldn’t make the Finals and/or get Leonard’s signature on a contract.
The move by the Sixers — and the Clippers — only ramps up that considerable pressure.