3 Toronto Raptors who might not last the entire 2024-25 season

No. 3: Bruce Brown

We will begin with the obvious name, the player that the Raptors have been shopping since the day that he arrived in the 905. Bruce Brown was acquired as the primary matching salary in the Pascal Siakam trade, and was always a strong candidate to be traded to a contending team. That plan has only become more likely as the months have passed.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, Brown is a proven playoff veteran who doesn't demand a lot of touches and can fit into a winning culture; good teams want that kind of player. The reason the Raptors don't is that (1) they aren't trying to maximize their winning right now, and (2) Brown is a poor fit with the rest of the roster.

Toronto has a team that is relatively thin in the frontcourt and slam-packed in the backcourt and on the wing. The 15-man roster features 9 players whose most natural position is either point guard or shooting guard. They also start a non-shooter at center, so the rest of the lineup has to maximize shooting. Players like Gradey Dick provide that shooting, while Brown does not.

The difficulty in trading Brown is that he makes $23 million this season, and for most teams they need to send out more money than they are taking back in order to not hard cap themselves at the first luxury tax apron.

Eventually, the Raptors will find the right trade partner and move on from Bruce Brown. He is the most likely player on the roster not to be on the team at season's end.