Report: Raptors trade DeMarre Carroll to the Brooklyn Nets

The report from Woj at ESPN just came in: the Raptors are set to trade DeMarre Carroll to the Brooklyn Nets, along with a 2018 first round and second round pick in exchange for Justin Hamilton.

Here’s the big reveal:

Obviously, this is a lot to take in and it is currently 1am on a Saturday night, but here goes: it was common knowledge that the Raptors were interested in moving on from Carroll. We know this, for both performance and salary cap reasons. Yes, Dwane Casey and Masai Ujiri kept speaking of the oft-injured swing man like he was due for a bounce back year, but unfortunately, father time and injuries said different. Carroll was never going to regain the true form he showed during that 60-win season in Atlanta. It sucks — for him and for Toronto — but it happens.

The wild thing here is that the Raptors and Ujiri actually decided to part with not one but two draft picks to move Carroll. That speaks to how far DeMarre’s value had fallen given his recent performance and the two years and $30 million left on his contract. The Nets made a smart move here — they’re fine paying the salary, they could use the veteran presence, and while the picks probably won’t be great, they’ve added a couple more shots in lottery. It’s a good thing to have, especially after your dumb previous GM trades all your draft picks.

The Raptors get Hamilton in return, a big 7-footer who, uh, probably won’t figure in to the team’s plans in a major way. So now the Raptors have a bigger question to answer: who is playing the 3-spot next season? With Carroll, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson gone, the Raptors have two wing players on the team (DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell [Editor’s note: And the injured OG Anunoby]). Obviously the team will have to look to sign someone. Or maybe they do actually plan to play Bruno Caboclo this year? Man, it is 1am and the Raptors traded DeMarre Carroll. Wonders never cease.