The Toronto Raptors thought they were close to acquiring Matt Barnes via sign-and-trade, but apparently somebody didn’t do their homework, causing the deal to go through. With no cap space left to sign Barnes, no Bird rights (or even early Bird rights), and the inability to use salary cap exceptions to sign him and subsequently trade him, the Magic are a pretty improbable sign-and-trade partner.
With Toronto stalled, a few more teams will have a chance to lure away Barnes, despite the fact that he doesn’t seem to mind playing for the Raptors next season. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, though the Raptors remain interested and are exploring more ways to acquire Barnes, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Miami Heat will all be continuing their negotiations with the swingman.
It’s not hard to see why. Barnes is something of an irritant, but mostly because his brand of defense is impressively pesky. He can also step out and hit the three on occasion, but Barnes is actually a bit overrated in that respect (Barnes shot just .319 from deep last season and .329 for his career, unimpressive marks for a guy with somewhat limited offensive utility). That said, Barnes is far more active than your typical three-point shooting role player, and his tendency to cut hard to the rim and fight for rebounds give him value beyond his shooting stroke.
Toronto will have to think quickly, because after spending most of their mid-level exception on Linas Kleiza, it doesn’t look like they’ll have the means to sign Barnes to a decent offer outright. Meanwhile, Boston, L.A., and Miami will continue their pursuit, because that’s what NBA contenders do: They target and acquire quality role players like it’s going out of style. The idea of playing with one of those powerhouses must be at least somewhat alluring to Barnes, particularly as the reality of him landing in Toronto becomes more and more of a pipe dream.