According to Ric Bucher and Nick Fridell of ESPN, the Toronto Raptors have acquired Chicago Bulls forward James Johnson in exchange for the Miami Heat’s 2011 first-round pick, which the Raptors owned.
On the surface, this trade looks like a huge win for the Bulls. James Johnson is young and athletic, but he can’t shoot, his playmaking skills are limited, and he was barely getting minutes for the Bulls. Miami’s pick will likely be very late in the first round, and this is supposed to be an extremely weak draft, but there’s always the chance of grabbing a Landry Fields, Kyle Korver, Marcus Thornton with a later pick, and sometimes teams hit home runs with a player like Michael Redd, Gilbert Arenas, or Manu Ginobili.
Since Toronto already has plenty of wing players, this deal doesn’t appear to make a lot of sense for them, but they apparently believe in Johnson, and this is a very weak draft. We’ll see if this move pays off for the Raptors.
