The Toronto Raptors’ roster is a fluid document at this point in time, as there is a 0% chance all the players who begin the season on the 2023-24 roster will end the season back in Toronto. Masai Ujiri’s insistence on tinkering with the bench makes Toronto’s depth a very volatile area to examine.
The Raptors will likely look for changes behind their stars at various points during the season. Even after bringing in names like Dennis Schroder to improve the team’s lackluster depth, Ujiri’s desire to make a move might lead to new faces being brought in.
With veteran players on contracts that haven’t been commiserating with their level of play in their Raptors tenure and young players that are starting to run out of developmental road, fans shouldn’t remain too attached to some of those names. Even some of the stars aren’t safe.
If Ujiri wants to swap some things up on the bench, make some moves that take this team closer to a proper rebuild, or look for win-now additions, one of these three players could easily be trading in their old Raptors colors for some fresh new threads.
3 Toronto Raptors players who won’t last the whole 2023-24 season.
3. Thad Young
The fact Young is on the team now is confusing. The Raptors were barely using him last year, they signed a potential replacement in Jalen McDaniels, and Young himself would likely be better off chasing a championship instead of languishing on a team that could go in one of five different directions.
Young has a tradeable salary and enough juice left in the tank to play some meaningful minutes on a contender. While the player fans remember from Philadelphia, Indiana, and Chicago (among other stops) is likely not coming back, he put enough solid reps on tape to get some teams interested.
Thad Young might not stick with the Toronto Raptors.
The wily vet had to take a backseat to Toronto’s young guns last year, going from an occasional starter as a small-ball center to an inactive player who would need to pray for garbage time to get in the game. Ujiri wants even more of a focus on the up-and-coming players this season, which isn’t good for Young.
The Raptors might be able to get some minimal draft compensation for Young if a team gets desperate for a veteran addition. At this stage in his career, Toronto owes it to him to send him to a good situation with title aspirations.