The Toronto Raptors are officially in a rebuild. The team made that clear after trading away both O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam over the past couple of weeks.
The goal for Toronto right now is not to win. Rather, it is about developing their young core and building a team around them.
Toronto’s young core of Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett are considered to be the only untouchables on the Raptors roster.
Therefore, the veterans on the team could be moved ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline. The Raptors could elect to enter a fire sale and continue to tear down their team.
ESPN recently put out some mock trades that they would like to see before the trade deadline.
One idea proposed by ESPN’s Andre’ Snellings sends Jakob Poeltl and Dennis Schroder to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Davis Bertans, Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann, Aaron Wiggins, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
Now when looking at this trade it doesn’t specify which of the Thunder’s picks it would be. OKC has all sorts of draft picks at their disposal. Regardless, future draft capital like this is valuable for a Toronto team that is rebuilding. This is a good haul for two players in Schroder and Poeltl who are unlikely to be in the Raptors long-terms plans.
The deal doesn’t make as much sense for the Thunder. They seem to be content with their current roster. However, two veterans like Schroder and Poeltl could be key for a young Thunder team that is set to make their first playoff run in a while.
While this trade is unlikely to happen, it is an interesting idea for both team.
Raptors open for business
As mentioned the Raptors could look to blow up their roster before the trade deadline. Toronto is reportedly ‘open for business’ and could make more moves within the next few weeks.
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