As the NBA trade deadline inches closer, many teams across the association find themselves re-evaluating their position this season.
In Toronto, the Raptors have become one of those teams after a disappointing start to the season. Despite having some solid two-way talent on the roster, the Raptors are just 16-21 on the season with no signs of a turnaround.
Naturally, their position has drawn much interest from opposing NBA teams. According to what one source told Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, the Raptors will be a team to watch over the next few weeks.
“Or maybe they go all in and consider trading Siakam and Anunoby for what would likely be massive returns of picks and young talent. ‘A s—load’ was the ballpark estimate provided by one league insider. The rest of the league is waiting anxiously.”
The Raptors don’t have to trade anyone this season, but it’s clear that the team they’ve assembled doesn’t work as intended. No matter who is at fault for what, Toronto might be better served by trading away their star veterans to add some young depth around last season’s Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.
Scottie Barnes is The Future Of Raptors Basketball
Scottie Barnes has already shown flashes of what he can be when he’s at his best. Last season, he won Rookie of the Year for his heroic performance as the face of the franchise.
This season, however, there has been some criticism about how he’s developed his game.
It takes work of an order of magnitude much greater than “hard” to become a truly elite star in the league. There is every chance that Scottie Barnes will come to that realization either on his own or by it being hammered home by his bosses and teammates beginning next summer.
But he has not quite gotten it yet and that’s been an issue the Raptors have dealt with since before the season even began.
Having watched almost every game last season and about every game so far this season, it’s hard to see any one area of the game that Barnes is better at in his second year than he was in his first.
As two-way wings and borderline All-Stars, OG and Pascal would net a massive return for the Raptors, and it may just set them up to become a superpower down the road.
But trading your team’s best players, some of which have been there for years, is never easy and it’s always a big risk. But if things don’t change for the Raptors soon, we could see them make some changes that will shake up the NBA hierarchy for years to come.
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