About a week ago, we talked about how the Toronto Raptors’ West Coast road trip — mainly the success of it — had the potential to change trade deadline plans for the front office. Since returning home
from that West Coast swing, the Raptors have lacked punch. After the excellent play out West had the potential to change plans, does this recent poor stretch of basketball continue to change plans ahead of Thursday’s deadline?
Last Friday, the Raptors faltered in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic, completely losing the momentum they had built in the previous three quarters. Against the Utah Jazz, the Raptors again lacked offensive energy, not at all playing to the level they should have been.
Even with the hype of Scottie Barnes finding out he’s an All-Star mid-game, the Raptors looked discombobulated as they tried to overcome an injured and tanking Jazz team. While they recovered in the 4th quarter, it was more of a skirt by a much worse Jazz team instead of the emphatic win that may have been expected.
“This is amazing, no one around the league had doubt that he deserved this,” Darko Rajakovic said after the game about Barnes’s All-Star nomination. “This is not the best Scottie Barnes you will ever see. I know how hungry he is.”
“I know that coaches around the league have a lot of appreciation for the way Scottie plays.” Darko continued. “I think everyone else is lacking appreciation for the way he plays.”
“I haven’t had time to think about it, but I’m excited for it,” Barnes said himself. The announcement from the league happened right as the Raptors game started tonight, and he found out midgame.
Despite the weirdness of the game itself, the Raptors still came out with the win. In a 107-100 victory for the Raptors, RJ Barrett led all scorers with 21 points, Mamukelashvili had 20 off the bench, and Ingram had 19 points of his own. A win is a win.
Still, you can’t help but think about what the Raptors could be cooking up ahead of the trade deadline when things are still looking weird offensively. With only days to go until Thursday’s deadline, there is still a lot of time for multiple deals to happen, but also for things to change. Everything is fluid until 3 p.m. on Thursday hits.
Among the glaring needs for Toronto as we approach the deadline are depth in the frontcourt as well as shooting ability. With Jakob Poeltl’s ongoing injury problems, the Raptors are lacking power and height under the rim. Yet, Poeltl’s injury may be what hinders the Raptors this trade deadline most, as his lofty contract would be hard to move regardless, not to mention the fact that he’s injured.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley are other names floating around as well, two of the Raptors other big ticket contracts. Including them in any deals the Raptors do gives the team more flexibility when it comes to money.
Still, as we know, this franchise doesn’t like to do much moving at the deadline. The more likely scenario ahead of Thursday is for Toronto to just do a few smaller transactions and call it a day until free agency later in the year.
The Raptors will now have a few days to practice and rest before they are back in action Wednesday and Thursday at home. We’ll see if anything big happens before their next game.
