The Toronto Raptors are not exactly going anywhere this season. They are 15-25 on the season, which has them sitting at 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Their -1.8 point differential is nothing to write home about either; it is tied with the Brooklyn Nets for 10th in the East. Their -1.6 net rating ranks 1oth in the NBA as well. Opponents are shooting 38.8 percent from deep against the Raptors this season, so perhaps they are getting a little unlucky. However, there aren’t many other indicators to suggest there’s a big run coming for this Toronto franchise.
In fact, it would incentivize the Raptors to begin losing more games than they win. They owe their first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs due to last year’s (puzzling) trade for Jakob Poeltl at the deadline in 2023 if it falls outside of the top six. The Raptors are currently tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth-worst record in the NBA, but the Grizzlies are without Ja Morant for the rest of the season and are down Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart for a few weeks. It would take a lot of skill to finish this season with a worse record than them.
One way to accomplish that is by trading their good players! Toronto has already traded OG Anunoby along with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons that will in all likelihood be the 31st pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. They followed that up by agreeing to a blockbuster trade to send Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers.
The Raptors shouldn’t be done making moves. There is another player on their roster that they should absolutely look to trade before the trade deadline.
