The Toronto Raptors are entering a big offseason, as it is their first summer in the midst of a rebuild in many years. This past season the Raptors dealt Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers and OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks. In that deal with the Knicks, the Raptors got back RJ Barrett and young guard Immanuel Quickley.
Quickley immediately became one of the franchise’s cornerstones for the Raptors. At 24-years-old, he thrived in the 38 games he played with the Raptors and could easily be the point guard of the future as Toronto enters their next phase. But he is also a restricted free agent, meaning he is about to get much more expensive and could receive league-wide interest that will force the Raptors to make a tough decision.
One team that could force the Raptors hand and make things interesting is the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio figures to be a major player in the free agent market this offseason, as they are projected to have around $27 million in cap space with a major need at point guard to pair with their rookie superstar Victor Wembanyama.
Quickley is the exact type of player the Spurs could benefit from having, and that’s what Hunter Simpson of Sporting News theorized as well.
“Quickley would greatly increase San Antonio’s chances at making the playoffs, but he’s also only 24 years old. With his playmaking taking a jump this season, his connection with Wemby would be seamless. Neither player has to score a ton to impact the game, but they both can if needed.
Furthermore, with the Spurs lacking a true starting point guard, Quickley would be a perfect fit. Devin Vassell is another player on the Spurs with an incredibly bright future, but he can’t account for all of the production in the backcourt. Tre Jones is still developing, but he’s simply not a starting point guard on a playoff team.”
The Raptors, of course, have the ability to match any offer that comes Quickley’s way as he is restricted. But if the Spurs wanted to offer him a deal that covers most, if not all, of their cap space, it could lead the Raptors to make a tough decision.
But given how well Quickley performed with the Raptors, it would be unlikely to see him go elsewhere this offseason.
Bleacher Report offers trade for Raptors
Bleacher Report recent put out an article looking at trade ideas for every team that missed the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Their trade idea for the Raptors is quite interesting. They have Toronto acquiring another Canadian.
The trade they proposed is Toronto trading their 2026 second-round pick (top-44 protection) to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins.
This would basically be a salary dump for the Warriors as offloading Wiggins’ $26.3 million salary would give them flexibility in the offseason.
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