NBA Trade Rumors: Raptors Are Sitting On A Gold Mine, But Will They Bring It On?

On Thursday morning, a report from SNY’s Ian Begley appeared that in December knicks offered the raptors two first round picks for And Anunoby. This comes after it was reported earlier this week by the Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Starthat the Raptors received an offer from an unnamed team of three first-round picks for Anunoby.

So far, Masai Ujiri is not moving.

But how long will it stay that way?

It’s not just Anunoby that Toronto sits as a potential high-value trade piece. Pascal I’m sorry it’s a whole-N.B.A player Fred VanVleet he’s an All-Star. Gary Trent Jr. he would be a coveted shooter/defender for almost any contender.

If the Raptors were to give in to this season’s struggles and put a ceiling on this current core of players, they would be in a position to start Oklahoma City’s road to a rebuild. Scottie Barnes it becomes yours Shai Gilgeous-Alexander building block, and everyone else gets dumped by a truckload of scrap capital.

Let’s say Siakam is worth three first-round picks. Anunoby three more. VanVleet potentially two. Another one for Trent. That’s nine first-round picks, plus Toronto controls all of its own picks going forward. This is a great moment, but if you’re the Raptors, are you ready to start over? The reason these players would be worth so much is because they are so good. Hard to replace.

Maybe the Raptors go the route of trading a couple of guys, but keep a core intact. If that’s the case, VanVleet and/or Trent will most likely be sent down. Assuming Trent declines his player option for next season, both will be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Earlier this month, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported that Toronto offered VanVleet the maximum four-year, $114 million extension allowed. VanVleet rejected it. From ESPN:

But one thing is clear: VanVleet believes he’s worth more than what Toronto can currently give him.

“Without going too far… [I’m] just trying to put myself in a good business position and not take an extension on a deal that was done three or four years ago,” VanVleet told ESPN.

“I felt like I’ve gotten through this contract so far. So I was just trying to put myself in a position to put the cards in their hands. They’ve got to make a decision from an organizational standpoint.

“I love being here. I love being a Raptor. I have a great relationship with Masai and Bobby, so I’m sure we could find [a deal]. It’s a great partnership that we have, so going forward, I’m not going to make it easy for them and they’re not going to make it easy for me, and that’s the way it goes.”

At the 2021 trade deadline, the Raptors shipped Norman Powell to the Blazers for the same reason they could end up dealing VanVleet in the coming weeks. They didn’t want to pay Powell what it would have taken to keep him, and they didn’t want to lose him for nothing in free agency.

If you’re Ujiri, this is a good problem to have. A group of good players that were highly coveted by other teams and would probably be good too. At this very 2021 deadline, it seemed almost a formality that the Raptors would move Kyle Lowry. But they didn’t.

Ujiri does not commit. We know this a lot. We also know that “good problems” are problems. This is not an easy decision. I’d certainly count on Ujiri joining a contender if he suddenly found himself armed with a barrel of picks similar to OKC, but there’s no guarantee. And it can be a long process. The thunder I’ve been at this since 2020 and they’re only now becoming a .500 team because SGA has turned into an MVP level player.

Does Barnes really have that kind of advantage? I would say no, emphatically. I think he’s a guy you build with, not around. Same with Anunoby. Siakam is the star, but he will be 29 in April. His timeline wouldn’t fit into a Barnes/draft capital plan.

I don’t know the right answer. This is not my job. My guess is that VanVleet and Trent will move, and Siakam and Anunoby will stay. That would give Toronto at least two more first-round picks to add to their own chest, which would be a pretty nice package to hit the market in an attempt to land a star alongside Siakam and Anunoby. This would seem to be the shortest path to contention.

But which star will be available? And could the Raptors overcome an OKC or Houston or New York, all of whom are also armed to the teeth with draft capital? Would they give up a bunch of really good players for a chance to be great, only to end up in the same place or maybe even worse than where they started? Go ask a Blazers fan.

These are all theoretical questions, but ones you can bet Ujiri is considering. These are the decisions GMs get the most money do. They are not easy. The only thing we know for sure is that if Ujuri decides to trade any of these guys, he will have no shortage of suitors.