Dragic’s brief Raptors tenure nearing end as trade deadline approaches

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – Goran Dragic and the Raptors both tried to make things work, though neither tried hard enough.

When Toronto acquired the veteran point guard in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kyle Lowry to Miami over the summer, both parties knew what this was, and what it wasn’t. It was always going to be a short-term relationship. The only question was when and how it would reach its inevitable conclusion.

It didn’t get off to the best of starts. Dragic took some heat for comments he made to reporters in his native Slovenia, expressing disappointment with Toronto as a landing spot. He understood the backlash and was sincere in his apology, but he didn’t misspeak and wasn’t misquoted. That’s how he felt, and it’s not hard to see why, even if he could have and probably should’ve kept it to himself.

If Dragic, 35, couldn’t remain in South Florida – where he and his family settled down during his seven seasons with the Heat – his preference was to end up with a contender so he could spend the final seasons of an excellent NBA career chasing his first championship ring.

As a young and retooling team, the Raptors were years away from competing at that level.

Dragic was never part of their plan either.

Once it became clear that Lowry was bound for Miami, the Raptors targeted Precious Achiuwa, the Heat’s sophomore centre, who intrigued them in the draft a year prior. They liked him enough to go the sign-and-trade route rather than simply letting Lowry walk and using the resulting cap space in free agency. Dragic’s expiring $19.4 million contract needed to be included to match salary.

The Raptors spent the moratorium period canvassing the league for a third team, hoping to re-route his