The Toronto Raptors have become a legitimate title contender this season, as they capitalized on the rapid development of their young players and the leadership of point-guard Kyle Lowry.
However, despite their current success, general manager Masai Ujiri is expected to roll the dice in an attempt to further bolster their front-court rotation.
In a recent piece by Raptors beat writer Stephen Brotherston, he tackled up Toronto's glaring need to improve its rebounding, which ranked 22nd in the league at 41.7 boards per contest.
Jonas Valanciunas has been putting up solid numbers as the man in the middle for the Raptors. However, the 7-foot Lithuanian banger is just averaging 8.8 rebounds per game, which is enough to lead his team in that department.
The Raptors' lack of rim protectors and low-post defenders are another issue Ujiri has to address for the team to avoid the same scenario they faced against the Brooklyn Nets, who capitalized on their size and height advantage to win their highly-competitive first round series 4-3.
According to Brotherston, there are several trade targets the Raptors front-office should try to explore. Nets veteran forward Kevin Garnett has been mentioned as an intriguing option since the former NBA MVP is known for tenacity and leadership on and off the court.
"Big men that can rebound and provide some rim protection are always in demand, but looking around the league, there are some trade targets Ujiri could go after if he is willing to part with some of his future oriented assets," Brotherston claimed.
Then there are the up-and-coming bigs like Jordan Hill of the Los Angeles Lakers, Bismack Biyombo of the Charlotte Hornets, and Brendan Wight of the Boston Celtics, whose names have been floating around in the trading mill for quite some time now.
The Raptors have been playing tremendously well as a whole unit, and it won't be surprising if Ujiri eventually opposes in making moves that would compromise the team's chemistry, though he still has a lot of time between now and February 19 trade deadline to analyze the situation and put the team in an even better position to contend for a title.
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