The Raptors are deadline buyers ... for now
The Raptors won their third straight game. Then they went shopping in the visitors' locker room.
Before this week, the Toronto Raptors were considered "the first domino" in the NBA trade market. Other teams were waiting for Toronto to throw in the towel on the season and deal impending free agents Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent. Then the Raptors won six out of nine games, and the first domino turned out to be the Brooklyn Nets.
Now Toronto is adding to its team instead. The Raptors moved into 10th place and plugged their biggest hole by bringing back Jakob Poeltl, the center they traded away to get Kawhi Leonard in 2018. Toronto took advantage of San Antonio's visit Wednesday night to close the deal after the game and before Poeltl left the country.
The Raptors were relying on 6-foot-8 Pascal Siakam and 6-foot-8 Precious Achiuwa to man the pivot, along 200-pound Chris Boucher.
Poeltl is 7-foot-1 and 245 pounds. His presence inside should improve Toronto's middle-of-the-pack defense, and he's a solid screener and passer on offense.
He is also an unrestricted free agent this summer, which is why Toronto may not be done making moves. VanVleet and Trent are also due new contracts. Given the Raptors just traded a first-round pick for him, you can expect Toronto to re-sign Poeltl. That means there may not be enough money to pay both free agent guards.
VanVleet was an All-Star in 2022. The 24-year-old Trent scores 18.6 points per game and is a career 38.5 percent three-point shooter. In order not to lose them for nothing, Toronto might feel pressure to trade one player by the deadline.
The other highly aggressive option is to capitalize on the churning market by trading O.G. Anunoby at the height of his value. That would let the Raptors have the ability to re-sign all three and could get Toronto a toque full of draft picks.
The Raptors could decide to become as good as possible for the next two months as well and figure out contracts in the summer. After all, the core of this team has beaten the Sixers and Bucks in the playoffs before. Who's to say they can't deliver an upset this May?
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