Raptors trade DeMarre Carroll to the Nets

The Toronto Raptors are sending their starting forward DeMarre Carroll to the Brooklyn Nets in an attempt to clear salary cap space.

Two summers ago, the Toronto Raptors looked down south to the Atlanta Hawks and were impressed were one of their defensive stars — DeMarre Carroll. The Raptors needed someone to slow down LeBron James and they thought Carroll could be the next elite defensive player to stop the King.

General manager Masai Ujiri and the Raptors signed Carroll to a four-year, $58 million deal that would secure one of their wing spots for the future. Over these past two years, Carroll averaged 11.0 and 8.9 points per game. He isn’t great at spacing the floor and his defensive intensity wasn’t worth the lack of productivity on offense.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Raptors have traded DeMarre Carroll and their first and second-round picks from 2018 to the Brooklyn Nets for Justin Hamilton.

Per Wojnarowski, this was a salary dump for the Toronto Raptors, who have big contracts tied up with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. This gives them some salary cap space — $30 million to be exact — over the next few years to make deals. They’re sending both their picks from next year’s draft to Brooklyn in the process.

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Carroll can head to Brooklyn and be the starting small forward there. Clearly, the Nets aren’t in shape to win a lot of games in the near future, but Carroll is a good addition along with the two draft picks next season. Head coach Kenny Atkinson worked with Carroll in Atlanta and so I’m sure he’ll be excited to get him in the building again.

The Raptors clear space, get rid of a bad contract, even though it cost them two draft picks. The Nets’ ability to absorb poor contracts give them the ability to add picks. It’s a win-win for both teams.