Toronto Raptors Rumors: Signing Iman Shumpert Would Necessitate Trades

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The Toronto Raptors signed DeMarre Carroll today, which looks to be their big splash in free agency. Now, rumors have it Iman Shumpert is on the radar as a secondary target.

I like Shumpert, and I’d like to see him on the Raptors, but I just can’t see things working out unless Terrence Ross and/or DeMar DeRozan get traded. Signing Shumpert would essentially give the Raptors four wing players fighting for two starting spots. It’s just not a good situation.

Could Ross come off the bench? Sure. Is Shumpert a must-start NBA player? Probably not. But the combination of the two is overkill, and it’ll hurt team chemistry.

Moreover, it’s so obviously not the case that the Raptors are set at other positions. If it were, then it wouldn’t be bad to make due with a crowded wing rotation. But this team still lacks a power forward; as of now, Patrick Patterson is the team’s starter at that spot. Patterson is a fine player, but he’s not starting calibre on a contending team.

Another rumor is that Carroll be moved to power forward himself. This rumor is gaining traction, but it is a horrible idea. Putting Carroll at power forward is a total waste of his talents. Carroll’s best skill is defending the star SFs of this league like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony. Putting him in the frontcourt is just going to bruise him up. He’s much better against LeBron than he would be against someone like Blake Griffin.

With all this in mind, perhaps GM Masai Ujiri has a DeRozan/Ross trade in the cards that’s going to wow us all. I’ll remain optimistic, and trust that he makes such a move in tandem with acquiring Shumpert. Neither DeRozan nor Ross should be considered untradeable, as they can both be replaced.

Casey Sherman is the Toronto Raptors Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @shermham

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