Armchair GMs hope trades are in works

Trade O.G. Anunoby for Russell Westbrook? Fire coach Nick Nurse? Bring Kyle Lowry home?

After years of consistently being in the top half of the East — we’re still pretending the pandemic season in Tampa never happened, right? — this season has been more of a grind. So, to let Raptors fans blow off some steam, we gave them the opportunity to sit in the general manager’s seat.

When things go south with a Toronto team — just ask the Maple Leafs — the armchair GMs come out in droves. That’s why, two weeks ago, we asked fans what they would do if they were running the Raptors. Since we released the survey, not much has changed in the big picture. We received 106 responses to the questions below, and put together some highlights:

How would you grade the team’s performance?

It wasn’t a very good report card for this edition of the Raptors. The majority of votes (80 per cent) were split between C (41 per cent) saying they’re not playing up to standard but there’s no need to panic, and D (39 per cent) who say they haven’t been enjoying this season as much. A small group were more blunt by giving them an F (15 per cent) and calling the season a failure, while an even smaller group (four per cent) gave them a B. There were no A’s to be found.

What direction do you want to take this team?

Thirty-six per cent took a calm approach, saying there’s no need to panic. Thirty-five per cent said it’s time to rebuild and tank for Victor Wembanyama, while 29 per cent believe in this group and want to fight for a playoff spot.

Would you make a coaching change?

Readers who checked in have full confidence in coach Nick Nurse despite a tough season. Sixty-one per cent said they would not consider moving on from their championship coach, while 31 per cent will give him the rest of the season before re-evaluating and just seven per cent (eight votes) said it’s time to go.

Would you make a trade?

This is where the fun starts. Only one fan said the roster is good enough, while nine said they would re-evaluate in the off-season. The remaining 90 per cent were pretty much split among wanting to make minor trades to add for a playoff push, selling off a few players for draft picks and blowing up the team with blockbuster deals. The suggestions below will support that.

If yes, which player(s) would you actively be looking to trade away?

The players put on the block the most by pretend GMs were Fred VanVleet (48) and Gary Trent Jr. (39). There were a few who wanted to explore trades for Anunoby, a couple who’d consider moving Scottie Barnes, and depth players Malachi Flynn, Dalano Banton, Khem Birch, Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa were on the block. One thing almost everyone agreed on: keep Pascal Siakam.

Who would you try to acquire? Tell us your ideal trade scenario

Looking back to our Leafs GM survey when many fans wanted to trade Mitch Marner earlier this season, it was a reminder that this question can conjure up some wild answers. Barnes was suggested in a deal for Hawks star Trae Young. Other names floated as trade targets were Westbrook, Kristaps Porzingis, Mike Conley, Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mo Bamba and Jakob Poeltl. Then there was this suggestion: “Someone taller than six-foot-nine.”