Raptor film room: Sandro Mamukelashvili helped exploit the Blazers defense

Sandro Mamukelashvili put up another 20+ point effort on the road. The Raptors improved to 3-1 on their west coast trip and are now the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Seven players scored in double figures in a professional win over the Blazers.

I broke down how Mamu, Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, and Gradey Dick impacted the game:

Here’s Louis Zatzman making the pitch for the Raptors to trade for Karl Anthony-Towns:

How the actual trade gets done is up for debate. Poeltl doesn’t make nearly enough money to match Towns’ salary, so the Raptors would need to include more. One of the only ways to make it happen would be Poeltl and Brandon Ingram in exchange for Towns and Guerschon Yabusele. Now, trading Ingram after his very solid half season with the Raptors could bear its own costs. But in my mind, this would be a huge upgrade for Toronto. The Knicks would likely need a first-round pick as well, perhaps even two. There’s a limit to how many picks Toronto would be interested in sending out, but if it’s just one, I think the Raptors should make the trade.

Why would the Knicks do it? It would shrink Towns’ contract into two different ones, and Ingram is a hell of a performer. If Poeltl is healthy, he would give the Knicks far more consistent pick-and-roll defence, and his screening would service Jalen Brunson more than that of Towns. New York would only do this if the sky is falling, but perhaps it has hit that points. And picks to sweeten the pot might just get them there.

Right now, the East is weak, and the Raptors are strong. They still have some issues as a team, especially on the offensive end. And those have cost the Raptors plenty of wins on the season. But Towns would solve so, so many of Toronto’s problems. And the Raptors are equipped to make Towns’ own problems less detrimental than they are to the Knicks.

The trade deadline is only weeks away, and the Raptors have been linked to countless big names already. But if the Raptors are serious about making a run this season, there’s one name I think would be best: Karl-Anthony Towns.

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