Raptors fans are eagerly awaiting to see what the team does this offseason. Even Zach Lowe said on a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show that he’s “interested to see what they do.” It’s a big summer with a looming decision on RJ Barrett’s future in Toronto and a chance to build on the Raptors’ return to the playoffs.
The Raptors’ most promising avenue to find a significant boost is the trade market. They own all of their first-round picks going forward, and other teams have already shown interest in Barrett, as reported by HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto. But it seems that anything the Raptors plan to do will have to wait until the Milwaukee Bucks decide what to do with Giannis Antetokounmpo. The possibility of a blockbuster trade for the two-time MVP is holding up other business, according to reporting by Marc Stein.
“Multiple teams we’ve spoken to in recent days have said that other trade business around the league is definitely being held up as we wait to see if Milwaukee decides to make a direct two-team deal and then pursue subsequent trades with players it could theoretically acquire in the first trade—like Miami’s Tyler Herro—or instead proceed by assembling a multi-team construction,” Marc Stein reported on the June 22 edition of The Stein Line.
The Raptors have an extra incentive to wait and see what happens in Milwaukee. They are “always going to be opportunistic in any trade market,” as GM Bobby Webster put it in his end-of-season media availability, and a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade could present opportunities for the Raptors to swoop in and go after any unwanted players left in the wake of the superstar’s departure, like Myles Turner, for example.
The Raptors’ offseason could go several different ways
With how the Raptors are set up, their offseason could be anything from absolutely uneventful to incredibly busy. Depending on the trade market, the Raptors could decide that they want to hold on to their assets, use their number-19 pick, trade Gradey Dick to free up the money to re-sign Sandro Mamukelashvili in free agency, and go into next season with much of the same roster.
On the flip side, they could make an all-in move for a star and move on from any of Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, and Brandon Ingram in the process to reshape the roster around Scottie Barnes.
A middle path seems perhaps more likely. The Raptors have serious deficiencies to address—3-point shooting, offensive creation, center play—so it seems reasonable to expect that they will be active this offseason. But active doesn’t have to mean a blockbuster trade that blows up the top of the rotation. It could be a series of smaller moves to improve the supporting cast and give the Ingram-Barnes duo a second season together without a trade that would completely change the offensive hierarchy.
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