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When it comes to Anthony Davis trade rumors, the list of potential destinations has pretty much been limited to four teams: the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the New York Knicks.
Obviously, there are reasons for that: Those teams either have the assets to trade for Davis or the lure of a large media market to take full advantage of endorsements and business opportunities.
One team which has been conspicuously absent from those rumors is the team that made the biggest trade splash last summer: the Toronto Raptors.
So, could the Raptors truly make a realistic push for Davis?
What we know for sure is that adding Davis to a club that already has Kawhi Leonard, not to mention Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, would make it an immediate title favorite.
Davis and Leonard on the same team? That is a nightmare scenario for the rest of the league. Those two men alone would present frighteningly problematic matchups for opponents at various spots on the floor and at both ends of the court. Given Toronto's deep bench and quality role players, the Raptors could become the new puzzle to solve in the NBA, certainly in the Eastern Conference.
Clearly, the chance to win is there for Davis.
But is Toronto the total package?
One problem for the Raptors is that Leonard is likely to walk this summer, and while nothing is guaranteed, the prevailing thought is that Kawhi will take his talents to a warmer climate like Los Angeles.
That removes any incentive for Davis to want to go to the Raps, because he certainly wouldn't be going there for the beautiful weather or the marketing possibilities.
Of course, Leonard is only one item to consider in this tangled thicket of possibilities. Heck, even if Leonard decides to stay in Toronto, there is a much bigger complication at hand: assets.
Do the Raptors really have the pieces to swing a deal for Davis?
Think about this for a second: The New Orleans Pelicans reportedly rejected a trade deadline package from the Los Angeles Lakers that was said to include Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Ivica Zubac, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and multiple first-round draft picks.
Basically, the Lakers offered the Pelicans their entire team outside of LeBron James, and New Orleans laughed them off the phone.
Now, to be fair, a legitimate argument can be made that the Lakers' trade offer wasn't really that great and was based more on quantity rather than quality. It is debatable whether Kuzma or Ingram are even top-level prospects.
But can Toronto actually beat that offer or even come close to matching it?
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The Raptors' only true assets that the Pelicans would have any interest in are Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby. Siakam is having a terrific year and is an outstanding role player, but do you really want him being the centerpiece of a return for your superstar? As for Anunoby, he is a 3-and-D wing who has actually been a slight disappointment this season.
So, you would be getting an elite role player and a 3-and-D guy in return.
That's not nearly enough.
It's not as though the Raptors would be able to offer any good drafts picks, either: A team headlined by Davis and Leonard would surely win in the neighborhood of 60 games a year.
As tantalizing as the idea of a Davis-and-Leonard duo sounds, Toronto does not have the wherewithal to pull it off.
The Pelicans will surely get much better offers, with the Celtics likely putting Jayson Tatum on the table in talks and the Knicks potentially having a top-three draft pick along with Mitchell Robinson to dangle.
Either of those packages would instantly push the Raptors out of the running, since Toronto does not have any prospects on the level of Tatum nor any deal that could match Robinson and a top-three pick.
Heck, you can even go as far to say that a Clippers offer built around Montrezl Harrell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would trump anything the Raptors can muster.
I know we all love to romanticize trade scenarios that put a couple of superstars together, but any deal involving the Raptors for Davis does not seem plausible at all.
At best, the Raptors are a distant fifth place in the Davis sweepstakes, and if we want to include them in the running, there are other teams in similar situations that can offer the Pelicans more. For example, the Portland Trail Blazers can build a package around C.J. McCollum and Zach Collins.
It's not just that Toronto is not a very appealing long-term option for Davis in terms of personal enjoyment. It's the fact that New Orleans is not going to be all that interested in anything the Raptors have to offer.
