Toronto Raptors: Expect Ujiri to be aggressive at trade deadline

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri spoke recently about the upcoming trade deadline but should we expect him to be looking to make a big move?

Trade deadline season can be the most exciting time for a contending team and the Toronto Raptors have seen their fair share of big moves thanks to Masai Ujiri.

Whether it was the shocking trade for Kawhi Leonard or grabbing Marc Gasol at last year’s deadline, Ujiri has shown that he isn’t afraid to give his team a chance to go on a deep playoff run. This year probably won’t be any different considering how the team is performing this season.

There isn’t a lot of time before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 6 and Ujiri has made it clear that teams are calling him almost every day looking to make a deal.

"“Every day there’s phone calls in the NBA, that’s just how the NBA works,” he told reporters at the Toronto branch of WISE — Women in Sports Events. “I was getting phone calls four months ago, I’m getting phone calls today. I got a phone call while I was up there [on stage]. There’s always phone calls.”"

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Ujiri also made the bold statement saying that the Raptors were going to die trying to win another championship. You also have to wonder how far Ujiri is willing to go to give his team the best chance.

Heading into the deadline, Ujiri traded  Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and CJ Miles to get Gasol and that major shakeup proved to be the right chess move. This time around, it seems like the Raptors will only make a deal if it significantly improves their chances to knock off a team like the Milwaukee Bucks who pose the biggest threat on their chances to repeat as champions.

It’s not as likely to expect Toronto to land a player of star calibre because there aren’t many rumoured to be available. It also makes it tough considering the Raptors probably want to have some salary-cap flexibility especially with a really strong free-agent class in 2021.

This is probably why the Raptors are considering players like  Danilo Gallinari, Tristan Thompson and even Andre Drummond. Although those names don’t sound exciting if Ujiri thinks they can make an upgrade he’ll do it.

At the same time, the Raptors president has shown that he is willing to go a little bit out of the box to make a move nobody would anticipate so just be ready for anything at this point.

What are your thoughts on the Raptors trade deadline approach? Should they be aggressive or avoid messing up the team’s chemistry? Let us know in the comments below.