3 Raptors who will be out of the 2023 rotation after offseason moves
By Mike Luciano
2. Thad Young
It is quite a shame that Young’s Raptors career has come to this point. A terrific veteran presence who has done whatever has been asked of him and played very well in the postseason against Philadelphia, Young’s value to the Raptors has steadily decreased as time went on.
On top of the fact that the pick Toronto traded to acquire Young could have been used to acquire a player like Malaki Branham or Walker Kessler, Young went from starting as a small ball center to only getting on the floor when the outcome of the game has already been decided.
Thad Young has struggled to stick with the Toronto Raptors.
Young is in a peculiar place with the Raptors. While he is not poised for any rotation time, Toronto did guarantee his salary for the 2023-24 season and hasn’t appeared to make any efforts to trade him away. Masai Ujiri believes that both he and Garrett Temple will provide invaluable veteran mentorship.
Precious Achiuwa is too valuable on the defensive end to take minutes away from, and Chris Boucher has a much higher ceiling on offense. Don’t be surprised if the Raptors keep Young on ice in the regular season until a championship contender tries to snag him in the middle of the season.