3 Moves the Toronto Raptors need to be preparing for in 2025 offseason

No. 2: Not losing Bruce Brown for nothing

Apologies for the wording on this, but it's somewhat of a double-negative situation the Toronto Raptors have worked themselves into with Bruce Brown Jr.

First, they took him back as the primary matching salary in the Pascal Siakam deal, which also yielded three first-round picks. That was fine if he were either expiring salary or if they flipped him to another team, but neither happened. He stayed with the team, then Toronto picked up his $23 million team option for this season, an overpay in general but certainly not the best use of funds for a Raptors team (1) not maximizing winning this season, and (2) where Brown himself was a poor fit.

The idea was that the Raptors picked up his option to trade him, and therefore not lose him for nothing, but no such trade has materialized, and there is no guarantee that one will. That means Brown may be on the roster through the following season, and hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025.

At this point, the Raptors have to figure out a way to get something back for Brown - they can't simply throw their hands up in the air and say "well, we tried!" and move on. When Brown hits free agency, even with his $23 million coming off the books, they won't have meaningful cap space. What they can do is facilitate a sign-and-trade to another team, or bring Brown back on a smaller deal to trade later. Or, in the best-case scenario, he finds his place on the roster and he is someone the Raptors want long-term.

What would be the worst-case scenario is Toronto paying Bruce Brown all of his $23 million for this season, then he walks away to sign with a contender leaving the Raptors with nothing but an empty bank account to show for their troubles.