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#4 JJ Barea (Dallas Mavericks)
JJ Barea is another veteran point guard with loads of experience who could help the Toronto Raptors if Kyle Lowry’s bad back does not respond quickly to treatment. Barea could give the Toronto Raptors a third NBA champion on their roster as Barea was a member of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks who beat Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and the Miami Heat.
A small guard at 6’0 feet tall, JJ Barea is in his 13th NBA season. His first five seasons were with the Mavericks, the next three with the Timberwolves. Now in his second stint of play and 5th consecutive season in Dallas, Barea may not want to leave for nostalgic reasons. However, Toronto gives him a great shot at winning another NBA title.
Barea would offer the Raptors a competent floor general who can handle the point guard duties and offers loads of experience for the younger Raptors to learn from. Barea would potentially become the third championship player on the Raptors roster.
This season, Barea, in 35 games and 19.8 minutes of gameplay, is averaging 10.9 points and 5.7 assists per game. Barea is in the last season of his contract at $3.7 million dollars. Again, the Raptors could offer a couple of second-round draft picks or a 2nd rounder and any one of young role players like Malachi Richardson and/or Lorenzo Brown.
The idea is for the Raptors to have insurance on the bench without breaking up the core of the team in case Lowry’s back is a bigger problem than it appears.
As it is now, Lowry was supposed to be probable for the game against San Antonio on Thursday last week and the Milwaukee game on Saturday but did not play in either contest. Since this is also the second flare-up of back trouble this season for Lowry, even if he declares himself fit today, when will the back problem flare up again?
Raptors' general manager Bobby Webster should have the answer to that question in place before it needs to be answered. He will want to ensure he has an emergency fill-in for Kyle Lowry. One of the few things that can prevent the Raptors march to a deep playoff run in 2019 is the injury bug and its knocking on the door of the Toronto Raptors.
