3 reasons the Raptors should stand pat at the trade deadline

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TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 2: Alec Burks #18 of the New York Knicks goes to the basket against Yuta Watanabe #18, Fred VanVleet #23, and Pascal Siakam #43 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /

2. Don’t mess with the chemistry

After victories over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night and the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, Toronto is now an above .500 team at 18-17 in the win/loss column. The Raptors won five straight games earlier this season and are now on a four-game winning streak.

Toronto holds a few games in hand on several key Eastern Conference opponents and has won three straight games. After Wednesday night’s victory, they are only a few games back of Philadelphia, who are fifth in the East. If the season ended today, Toronto would be in postseason contention.

The Toronto Raptors must make sure they don’t upset their rhythm.

With the troubling flaws this team routinely has to overcome, they are momentarily better than three playoff teams from 2021 in the Knicks, Hawks, and Celtics. It might be a mistake to change the roster now when there isn’t any urgency or fear that the playoffs are out of reach.

The Raptors may not be NBA Champions this season, but the roster might surprise everyone with a top-ten finish in the Eastern Conference. If Ujiri and/or Webster deviate from the plan and make a trade that throws the rotations out of whack or gives away years of draft capital, that could come back to bite them.