The move was curious for more than its timing. Usually, the Eastern Conference’s fourth-place team would not offload its top role player with half the season left to play. Even if they were inclined to do so, they would typically avoid sending such an asset to the league’s defending champion.

And yet, this is how Kyle Korver became a Cleveland Cavalier last weekend.

So pronounced is Cleveland’s dominance over the East — or, at least, so sure is the expectation they’ll win the conference in a walk come spring — that the Atlanta Hawks ceded ground and willingly delivered Korver into LeBron James’ beckoning arms. The Cavaliers lead the conference by 3.5 games as of Wednesday, and now have one of the great sharpshooters in NBA history.

The Hawks, meanwhile, likely aren’t finished dealing. Their best player could be next.

Paul Millsap, Atlanta’s three-time All-Star power forward, has emerged as basketball’s most coveted name six weeks before the NBA’s Feb. 23 trade deadline. The Hawks, fearful of losing Millsap for nothing when he hits free agency in July, floated his name in trade discussions last summer and started listening to prospective offers again at the start of January,

Atlanta reportedly yanked Millsap from the trade block earlier this week, in what could very well be a bit of posturing from general manager Wes Wilcox. After Korver was pawned for Mike Dunleavy, the effectively retired Mo Williams and a first-round pick in 2019, guaranteeing some sort of return for Millsap would be a logical next step, especially since he’ll be in high demand.

This is where the Toronto Raptors come in.

The Raptors are Cleveland’s strongest challenger in the East, save, perhaps, the Boston Celtics. They’re blessed with striking depth, but lack a top-tier power forward. They shoot the ball exceptionally well, but no team is worse at defensive rebounding. As such, the thought of Millsap pairing with centre Jonas Valanciunas is tantalizing.

Millsap, an 11-year veteran, is a perpetual double-double threat: He’s 14th in the league since 2013-14, when he arrived in Atlanta, with 88. He’s a credible outside shooter; in three-plus seasons as a Hawk, he has attempted 3.2 three-pointers a game and connected on .340 of them. And his career Total Rebound Percentage — a measure of rebounds he snags while on the floor — of 14.9 compares favourably to Patrick Patterson and Pascal Siakam, the Raptors’ power forward tandem in the absence of the injured Jared Sullinger.

Whether the Raptors move to consummate such a possibility will hinge on team president Masai Ujiri’s willingness to break from his incremental approach to roster building. It will also depend, obviously, on other teams — the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings are all said to be enamoured of Millsap — and on what Atlanta would want in return. Before wavering this week, the Hawks’ asking price began with a “quality” first-round draft pick, per ESPN.

Toronto has an advantage there. The Raptors circuitously obtained the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2017 first-rounder by trading Greivis Vasquez to Milwaukee two summers ago, a deal that also netted them Norman Powell. Like the Raptors’ own pick, that selection won’t be especially high in this June’s draft order, but Ujiri has, at minimum, greater leverage than usual should he want to make a splash.

Then there’s the Raptors’ depth. They platoon the rangy Siakam and glue guy extraordinaire Patterson at power forward. Powell and Terrence Ross spell DeMarre Carroll on the wing. Centre Lucas Nogueira swings the score in Toronto’s favour when he takes the court. All five will come off the bench when Sullinger returns from foot surgery, in addition to Cory Joseph.

Powell, who has scored and defended well in the rare games he’s been given extended minutes, could make Ross expendable in a potential deal. Ross’ increasingly efficient shooting — his effective field goal percentage of .553 is well above his career best — may entice Atlanta or another team looking to make a prominent move before the deadline.

Losing Patterson, a seamless fit in Toronto’s best lineups, or Sullinger, a decent scorer and estimable rebounder in his own right, would sting, but one of them might also be necessary to command a player of Millsap’s calibre. Acquiring a power forward while retaining Patterson, Sullinger and Siakam would create a frontcourt logjam, even if the Raptors committed to playing without a centre for long stretches. And to a team retrenching for the off-season, Patterson or Sullinger’s expiring contract could be a boon.

Beyond those players, the Raptors could grease the skids on a deal by bandying fledgling talent from the end of the bench. Jakob Poeltl, Delon Wright and the enigmatic Bruno Caboclo, Toronto’s first selections in the past three drafts, won’t log significant minutes for a couple more seasons at the earliest. The arrival of an all-star would make any of their departures somewhat palatable.

All this is to say that if the Hawks curtail their hesitation and start accepting calls on Millsap, and if Ujiri decides depth won’t be enough to catch Cleveland, the teams would be fitting partners.

Mortgaging the bench for a pending free agent is a risk, and a big one at that. But Toronto’s options are plentiful, and the prospect of drawing ever closer to a conference title might be worth it.

Email: nfaris@postmedia.com | Twitter: @nickmfaris