Raptors Rumors: Why Toronto is unlikely to make a trade in the next month

The Toronto Raptors will almost certainly not make a trade in September.

That is not to say there are no trades to be made. The Raptors had a relatively quiet offseason, in part because some of their bigger transactions were yet to be made. They made a single trade, adding draft picks and Davion Mitchell just to temporarily house Sasha Vezenkov's salary, They didn't sign a single free agent from outside of the organization.

That means the roster is relatively similar to last season, which could be a scary proposition given that the Raptors won just 25 games. There are reasons for optimism, however, given the age of the team's core and how well the primary pieces played together this season.

A way for the Raptors to more significantly change their fate would be to make a trade, a few of which have been percolating for some time. The most likely player to be traded is Bruce Brown Jr., a veteran on an expensive-but-expiring $23 million deal. When the Raptors picked up his team option for this season it was expected he would be traded right away; over two months later he is still on the roster.

Other trade possibilites are there as well, from relatively minor moves involving Chris Boucher or Ochai Agbaji to blockbuster swings like moving on from RJ Barrett or Jakob Poeltl. Any of those deals could still happen, either before the season or after. Raptors fans, however, don't need to hold their breath.

The Raptors aren't making a trade this month

The history of trades happening in the month of September is extremely light. Massive deals tend to go down around the NBA Draft and the start of free agency in late June and early July, or they tend to wait until right before or right after the season stars. The February Trade Deadline, of course, marks the third touch point. Draft, Season Opener, Deadline.

September falls at a place in the NBA calendar when team personnel are taking their vacations and then ramping up for training camp and the season to come. Trade discussions do happen, but there is both a lack of urgency and a lack of conversations, leading to relatively few trades.

Occasionally a player will sign a contract in September; those are normally training camp invitations and Exhibit 10 contracts, but every once in a while the Raptors would sign a player to a guaranteed deal for the end of the roster. Trades? Those are extremely rare.

In fact, going back at least 15 years, the Toronto Raptors have not made a trade in the month of September. Not a one. They have been a relatively active team on the trade market in general, but they don't do business in September.

That generally holds true for the rest of the league as well. Many years not a single team will make a September trade, while others perhaps one or two trades will go down. Last year proved to be the exception; the Damian Lillard blockbuster happened on September 27.

Will the Raptors make a trade this offseason? Perhaps, and perhaps even in September. If history is any indication, though, it will be a quiet month on the trade front.