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NBA Trade Rumors: Should The Raptors Trade Terrence Ross For David West?

By Tom West

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NBA Trade Rumors: The Toronto Raptors could be looking to bolster their title chances by trading Terrence Ross for David West. But considering Ross’ talent, should they? 

Terrence Ross is one of the most electrifying dunkers in the NBA and a dynamic spark of energy whenever he’s on the floor. With the potential he has, Ross has the opportunity to grow into a well rounded two-way player, so why would the Toronto Raptors want to trade him for a 34-year-old veteran such as David West?

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Ross has been a starter for the majority of his career with the Raptors, with 75 percent of his playing time coming at the small forward position. DeMar DeRozan, and the now first-time All-Star Kyle Lowry, may be the key to Toronto’s success, but Ross is still one of the most exciting players on a young contending team.

With a 36-17 record, they stand in 2nd place in the East, and even though they may not have the depth of the Hawks or the star power of the Cavaliers, they are still a top contender in a weak Eastern conference.

Despite having a solid group of young talent, especially after the addition of Lou Williams (who’s producing 22.2 points per 36 minutes this year), the hints of possible trades indicate that they may be wanting to push for a title immediately.

Feb 8, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) goes to throw the ball in against the San Antonio Spurs at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated San Antonio 87-82. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

With Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson to lead their frontcourt, and a plethora of wing players like Ross going through the rotation, the Raptors don’t look like a team in dire need of a trade. Ideally, they need another All-Star quality player to become a true title contender, but certainly not to the extent that a ‘panic trade’ should take place. Especially when there is no such talent on the market right now anyway.

Even though Johnson, Tyler Hansbrough and Patrick Patterson may not be the best big men in the league, they at least bring a certain level of toughness, size and hustle to make an impact. Or in the case of Patterson, provide some shooting ability to help space the floor (he’s actually shooting 40 percent from three-point range this year).

That being said though, the Raptors are reportedly considering a trade that would send Ross to Indiana in exchange for the Pacers starting power forward, David West.

It’s extremely unlikely that Raptors would even consider moving Jonas Valanciunas, he’s too talented as a prototypical center which is hard to find in the league right now (averaging 16.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes). Not to mention he’s been Toronto’s starting center since his rookie season in 2012 and has more room to improve. Meanwhile, West is on the final stretch of his career.

On the other hand, Terrence Ross can still develop, and at the very least be a valuable sixth man for the Raptors for years come (averages of 14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and at least one big dunk attempt per 36 minutes really aren’t too bad).

After all, not many players are capable of scoring 51 points in the NBA.

While West would be a great asset to add more depth, strength and skill to the Raptors frontcourt, sacrificing a young talent and athlete such as Ross would be close to absurd.

He may be one of the stronger big men in the game which goes a long way come playoff time against the tough teams in the East, like Washington and Chicago, but physicality and a mid-range game would be the only real factors he brings to the table.

He takes just under half his shots from over 16 feet out and makes a highly efficient 51 percent of them, but Terrence Ross is a player with too much potential to lose for the sake of 20 extra minutes of moderate floor spacing each night.

However, this could just be minor speculation that the internet has blown out of proportion. So, regardless of what the Twitter-sphere has to say, Raptors fans can hopefully take assurance in the fact that it would take a desperate and somewhat delusional general manager to waste a talent like Ross in exchange for a power forward with only a few years of relevance left.

Masai Ujiri, don’t break up a young and talented core for nothing.

Next: Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried available for the right price

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