The Toronto Raptors made a fairly low-key trade last June, sending veteran swingman John Salmons to the Atlanta Hawks for guard Lou Williams and center Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira.
Atlanta made the trade in order to clear the $5.45 million owed to Williams during the 2014-2015 season off the books. The fact that the 28-year-old hadn’t looked the same during the 2013-2014 season after coming off ACL surgery likely also served as motivation for the Hawks to commit to the deal. Shortly after the trade, Atlanta waived Salmons, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com).
For the Raptors, the mantra during the offseason was continuation. The team re-signed Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez in an attempt to bring back the same team that had won the Atlantic Division title with a 48-34 record the previous season. This is mainly why new acquisitions such as Williams didn’t receive a whole lot of attention heading into the new season.
Fast-forward to November. The Raptors are currently first in the Eastern Conference with a 12-2 record. The team is also tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the best record in the NBA.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Mohammad Arshad
Lou Williams Trade Paying Early Dividends for Toronto Raptors
November 25th, 2014 by Mohammad Arshad Leave a reply »
Advertisement