The Toronto Raptors have long yearned to beef up their power forward position. And now, after a concerning slump saw them fall from the clear number two team in the Eastern Conference to just a half game in front of the fifth seed, the team is reportedly to be actively pursuing a group of frontcourt players that include Serge Ibaka, Danilo Gallinari and Taj Gibson.
“I’ve got to look at it,” Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said of the possibility of making changes. “It’s not one player, it’s the coaching staff, it’s all of us in this together.” Previously, the Raptors were believed to be the frontrunners in acquiring Atlanta Hawks star Paul Millsap. And now, Yahoo Sports, citing league sources, reports that the team’s wish list include the trio of Serge Ibaka, Danilo Gallinari and Taj Gibson. As noted by SportsNet, Serge Ibaka has a prior relationship with Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri, while sharing an agent with Raps All-Star guard Kyle Lowry.
The report points out that while the Toronto Raptors have enough assets on paper to acquire any the fore mentioned power forwards, they have been reluctant to part with some of their more attractive assets like Terrence Ross and Bruno Caboclo. Apart from the two, the Raptors’ group of young players include Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell and Jakob Poeltl—all of whom are aged 23 and below.
Since Jan. 1, the Toronto Raptors have lost 13 of their last 23 games, culminating with a 102-101 loss to the Detroit Pistons in a game that saw the team blow a 15-point fourth quarter lead. Following the game, both Lowry and fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan made comments that alluded to pointing the blame at their coach, and suggested that personnel changes may be required to salvage them from thri current funk.
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