The trade that sent T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and first-round draft pick Roy Hibbert to Indianapolis for O'Neal and Nathan Jawai can be viewed as a win-now move, and this corner is usually all for those. But this stroke obviously isn't as bold as the one made last summer by the champion Boston Celtics, who committed to exceeding the luxury tax – spent money to make money, in other words – while surrounding their big acquisition, Kevin Garnett, with the right role players.
The Raptors, committed to not exceeding the tax threshold, have no freedom to fill out a roster that's looking awfully shallow. So this is a go-for-it-now move that doesn't go far enough – if, that is, the championship is the goal.
For once, I agree with him. We are going to be good, but not good enough to win it all. And if the objective is ultimately to win it all, some other moves have to be made, and the luxury tax threshold has to be crossed. Unfortunately, this is MLSE, and there's zero chance they do that.