Raptors rumors: Teams reportedly expressing interest in core players

Masai Ujiri likely hasn’t been very pleased with how his Toronto Raptors have performed over the last few weeks. The team has won just three games in December, and the only reason they beat the New York Knicks was Pascal Siakam playing the best game of his career in a 52-point masterclass.

Even with the win, the Raptors are far from a true contender at 14-18. Even their more measured goal of being a top-four seed appears to be well and truly buried thanks to the lack of depth and offensive skill assembled by this front office. A trade may very well be in the works.

Ujiri is never going to be an executive that completely shuts out the overtures of needy teams, especially when he is a part of the league’s lone Canadian and recognizes the challenges of improving the team without trading. As such, teams are starting to circle the Raptors roster in an attempt to pick away some of the proverbial meat on the bone.

According to Josh Leweberg of TSN, teams are already starting to pick up the phone and talk to Ujiri about some of Toronto’s most important players. While Lewenberg hinted that Ujiri is not necessarily in “trade now” mode, he will likely pick up the phone and engage these teams as he tries to get a king’s ransom back.

Will Toronto Raptors exec Masai Ujiri make some big trades?

One player that may be gaining steam lately is OG Anunoby. While he’s been excellent on both sides of the ball for Toronto this season, he may have been so excellent that he got the trade rumors flying. According to Zach Lowe, a hypothetical Anunoby trade could net the Raptors a return similar to what the Jazz got for Donovan Mitchell.

Gary Trent Jr. could make sense as a trade target, as he has a player option that could be refused when the offseason comes around. Trading Fred VanVleet would be a shocking move, but we’ve seen Ujiri do some surprising things over the years in trade talks.

At this point, the only two players who appear to be totally off-limits are superstar Pascal Siakam and Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. Ujiri needs to decide which players fit in well with Toronto’s timeline and flip those who don’t work for some all-important extra resources on the perimeter and in the paint.

The Raptors shouldn’t rush into things and get a deal done just for the sake of trading, but fans can bet that Ujiri is going to leave no stone unturned in his quest to improve this team.