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Toronto Raptors: 3 rumors from Atlantic rivals that aren’t good news

By Mike Luciano

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 11: Kemba Walker #8 of the Boston Celtics makes a pass around Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors during the third quarter (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - FEBRUARY 11: Kemba Walker #8 of the Boston Celtics makes a pass around Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors during the third quarter (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Raptors need to make some seismic moves in order to reclaim their spot among the elite in the Eastern Conference, and Raptors rumors have been flying around as Nick Nurse and the front office try to figure out what went wrong last year and how to correct those flaws.

What makes this semi-rebuild even tougher is the fact that they play in the toughest division in the game. Not only did every non-Toronto team in the Atlantic make it to the postseason, but the two top teams in this division, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers, might be the two best teams in the game.

The New York Knicks are WAY ahead of schedule in their rebuild, and the Boston Celtics have a strong enough core to withstand the offseason changes that swept through the organization. All four of these teams are already looking forward to some moves that could further improve this team.

The Raptors will need to make sure that none of these three rumors come to fruition, as doing so could make it even more difficult to get their stability back in what has become a ruthless conference.

These 3 rumors could be bad news for the Toronto Raptors.

Tom Thibodeau, Knicks, Toronto Raptors
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 20: Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

1. Knicks eyeing a move into the lottery.

The Knicks not only made it to the postseason as the No. 4 seed this year, but they are in a position to improve their depth in a significant fashion after acquiring the Dallas Mavericks’ first-round pick in the Kristaps Porzingis deal. However, Tom Thibodeau doesn’t seem too keen on adding more young players.

Marc Berman of the New York Post is reporting that the Knicks appear set on ditching the picks in favor of moving into the lottery. Given the surplus of point guard talent, the Knicks might be able to snag someone that can plug up their biggest hole, which would be a disaster for the Raptors and their chances against the Knicks in the future.

The Knicks getting a point guard would be awful for the Raptors.

The Knicks leaned on Elfird Payton and an aging Derrick Rose this season, and despite Rose’s quality in the postseason, that is far from an ideal rotation. Julius Randle is excellent, and RJ Barrett will keep getting better, so a young point guard like Davion Mitchell or Josh Giddey heading to New York would be a disaster for the Raptors.

The Raptors were able to hang with the Knicks in their matchups last year, but they had an incredibly vast advantage at the point guard position. The Knicks have a strong foundation, and a player of that caliber could put them miles clear of the Raptors. New York has the ammo to do it, so all Toronto can do is pray no lottery team is enticed by their draft capital.