3 Raptors whose roles aren't safe after the trade deadline
By Will Eudy
The Toronto Raptors are a team in a time of transition. After holding on to many of their roster pieces for years in hopes of remaining in contention, the team finally traded away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby this season in order to lean into a true rebuild.
The result of the trades has been a roster with one or two concrete long-term pieces but a lot of room for flexibility. Scottie Barnes is clearly a future star, but he may be the only player Toronto's management looks at and declares completely untouchable.
Out of everyone remaining on the Raptors' roster, these three players are the top candidates to potentially see a change in their role for the rest of the season.
Chris Boucher
Someone who was already not heavy on minutes in the Raptors' rotation is Chris Boucher. As of this writing, he ranks 17th among all players who have suited up for Toronto this season with just 14.0 minutes per game.
Heading into Monday night's home game against San Antonio, Boucher has not played since a week ago against New Orleans, getting a DNP in each of Toronto's last three contests. He was already mostly out of the rotation, and the last week suggests he could be watching from the bench down the stretch of the season as well.
Boucher's production has either slipped or stayed the same in several notable statistical categories since the 2020-21 season where he finished sixth in MIP voting. There is no telling what his future with the Raptors looks like.