NBA Trades: Predicting five teams that should be interested in acquiring RJ Barrett from the Toronto Raptors if he hits the trade block.
The Toronto Raptors could be a surprisingly active team on the trade market heading into the offseason. After making the bold move for Brandon Ingram ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline and then giving him a huge extension, there has been chatter that RJ Barrett could find his way to the trade block this summer. If that does end up being the case, it will be interesting to see what type of trade market develops for the 24-year-old wing.
At least for now, it's almost impossible to predict what the asking price would be from the Raptors if they were to move forward with trading Barrett, but you'd have to imagine there would be a pretty strong trade market for such a young, talented player. As the NBA offseason quickly approaches, we explore five teams who should be open to acquiring Barrett this offseason if he does end up hitting the trade block.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are a team that should absolutely express at least some interest in RJ Barrett. Even though the Bulls decided to move on from Zach LaVine, this is not a team that has completely made the pivot toward a rebuilding team. Because of that, I do believe that they'd be open - for the right price - to take a flier on Barrett if the opportunity did become available. To be honest, a situation like the Bulls could do Barrett well, too.
The Bulls need a new player to not only build around but also sell the franchise on. At 24 years old, the argument could be made that Barrett has still not hit his ceiling as a player. If Chicago believes they could get the most out of him, that would be a pretty simple sell to the fan base. I'm not sure what the likelihood of Barrett reaching his pre-draft potential at this point, but he does seem like somewhat of an odd fit in Toronto.
In Chicago, Barrett would have the liberty as a player that he didn't quite have during his time with the New York Knicks or the Raptors. Again, I'm not going to say that Barrett and the Bulls would be a perfect match for each other, but this is absolutely the type of move that Chicago has made before. Maybe this time around, it ends up working out for the franchise.