Toronto Raptors Expected To Send Out Title-Contending Pieces If Big Offers Arrive

The Toronto Raptors have been off their game for much of the 2022-23 NBA season.

While there is a belief among fans that they will make some moves to their benefit, the opposite might be more likely to happen.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was told by two anonymous NBA executives that the Raptors will not "be in the middle" and are poised to "do something" ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.

In Fischer's eyes, and NBA fans for that matter, the biggest advantage the Raptors have right now is their front office, which is headed by team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster.

"It is the stability atop the Raptors' basketball operations that has rival executives and player representatives bracing for some type of change," he wrote.

Despite the Raptors having a team led by guys like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Fred VanVleet, they are well out of a sure postseason seed with a record of 20-25 which is good for 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Questions of how ready this team is for a postseason push continue to hound the franchise mainly because of the lack of a significant playmaker outside of VanVleet.

For context, third-year guard Malachi Flynn and G League mainstay Jeff Dowtin are next up on the depth chart.

VanVleet simply cannot carry the entire offensive playbook on his back for the entire 48 minutes and they have not had a decent point guard rotation since Kyle Lowry was the starter.

This makes the Raptors a likely candidate to explore their options in both trade and buyout markets for a capable second-string point guard.

They will be hard-pressed to find one that is easily available however since most of them are on teams with playoff aspirations or likely to end up with a play-in seed.

Toronto could go after someone like the Washington Wizards' Monte Morris or Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics, but both of them already have major roles on their current squads.

Because of their lack of options, it might force them into trading one of their core pieces, practically trading away some of their defensive pieces for help on the offensive side of the ball.

Fifth-year man and Toronto's best individual defender O.G. Anunoby has been rumored to be receiving a Donovan Mitchell-level of interest from other front offices, which may entice the Raptors to move him.

They might also cash out on Gary Trent Jr. ahead of the deadline because of him likely declining his $18.5 million player option to try his hand at free agency as was reported by NBA insider Marc Stein.

The Raptors have a ton of avenues to address their deficiencies on offense, but whether they decide to mortgage their future to win now with Siakam and VanVleet leading the charge, alongside Scottie Barnes, depends mainly on the front office's discretion.