Toronto Raptors sell at the NBA Trade Deadline: Here’s What Happened

WE DID IT! We made it to the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline — after the Raptors made a total of four trades before the deadline passed this afternoon.

Let’s break down every move the Raptors have made this trade season:

Pre-Deadline Day

If you follow the Raptors at all, you’ll know about the two biggest trades of the season so far — but for the sake of being thorough, let’s go over them again.

The Raptors kicked off the season with a December 30th trade with the New York Knicks. They sent O.G. Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn to the Big Apple in exchange for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and a second-round draft pick.

Three weeks later, on January 18th, they made another big move, sending Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Bruce Brown, Kira Lewis Jr., Jordan Nwora, and three first-round draft picks.

With their biggest moves done, the Raptors were all about tweaking and selling at the trade deadline. They also had three potential first round picks for this years’ draft in their possession now, and Masai had mentioned probably not using them all.

Deadline Day Moves

The Toronto Raptors kicked off their deadline day with a trade to bring yet another Canadian to the Raptors. Toronto traded Otto Porter Jr., Kira Lewis Jr., and one of those first round draft picks to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji.

This move addresses the Raptors’ need for another big to space out the floor for Scottie Barnes to operate, as well as another young promising player in Agbaji.

People have been splitting this trade into two parts — you’re getting Olynyk for Porter Jr., upgrading in size and a few years in age. Then the first round pick/Lewis Jr. for Agbaji — instead of having a guaranteed contract in that first round pick, in a weak draft, you get a player who is promising already.

The Raptors were not done yet though. Shortly after, a trade was announced sending Dennis Schroder and Thad Young to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie.

Shortly after, the Raptors announced they would be waiving Dinwiddie. So essentially the trade was just to move Young and Schroder off the roster.

Per Michael Grange on an appearance on The Raptors Show with Blake Murphy and Will Lou, Schroder was apparently “offended” by his relegation to the bench in December. The guard started the season in the starting lineup, but was replaced by Gary Trent Jr. when it was clear the lineup needed rearranging.

That being a possible motivation, he was moved.

The Raptors now have two open roster spots.

Surprises

Many thought the Raptors were surely going to move Bruce Brown, but he stayed. Bobby Webster mentioned in his post-deadline presser that the offers they got were not right for them, so they passed.

Bruce Brown has a team option going into next season, making him a valuable trade asset even into the summer for Toronto.

There was also speculation on moving Chris Boucher, but they did not do that either. The Canadian stays on the team, as the number of Canadians on the roster increases to three.

The last potential move was Gary Trent Jr., who will be a free agent this summer. The Raptors seem to still be interested in the future of Trent on this team, so they decided to continue to monitor him for the rest of the season.

Rosters: Before vs After

Confused who is on our roster now? Same!

So, below is a handy little chart depicting the Raptors roster before December 30th vs post February 8th-deadline:

The Raptors now have two free roster spots that they intend to fill soon.

Draft Picks

As it stands, the Raptors have three, maybe four picks in the 2024 NBA Draft.

First is one pick from Indiana, protected 1-3. Indiana seems to be contending (or at least in playoff contention) this season, so the likelihood of them getting a 1-3 draw is low.

Then, one more first round pick that will be the lowest of OKC, Houston, the LA Clippers or Utah.

They also have one second-round pick coming in from Detroit.

Lastly, the have their 1-6 protected pick from the Poeltl trade last season. If the Raptors get that 1-6 draw, they keep that pick, if not it goes to San Antonio.

What Now?

The Raptors will look to fill their two empty roster spots in the buyout/free agency market.

Don’t expect them to take a swing at any big names though. The team will prioritize giving shots to young guys to fit into their new vision to fit around Scottie Barnes.

They could dip into the G-League, or possibly go international to find some talent to watch.

Either way, the rest of this season is about watching the team play together as much as possible. The front office will be deciding what they want to do, and who they want to keep going forward.

That’s it! All the moves the Raptors made ahead of the 2024 Trade Deadline!

More thoughts to come...