When that very important December 15 date rolls around, it marks the opening of the floodgates for a whirlwind of trade rumors to arise across the entire NBA. The "unofficial" start, if you will, as offseason signees can now hit the market. While Toronto might not be perceived as the most flashy destination in trade discussions, the Raptors are firmly thrust into the rumor mill as a team to watch as trade season begins to heat up.
How will the Raptors respond as NBA trade rumors ramp up?
At the time of writing, Toronto holds a 16-11 record and is the third seed in the Eastern Conference. This might seem like a comfortable position at first glance, until you realize that there is only a 1.5-game gap between the Raptors and the eighth-seed Heat and ninth-seed Cavaliers. When you take that into consideration, the East pecking order is wide open, unless you are firmly head at the top like the Detroit Pistons.
And with such volatility, Jake Fischer recently highlighted on Marc Stein's Substack (subscription required) that the Raptors are treading carefully in this landscape, keeping close track of their standings in the coming weeks. With that being said, it is still widely believed that Toronto will make some sort of deal before the February trade deadline. However, the big question remains whether it will be just a minor roster tweak or a major splash, similar to the Brandon Ingram deal last year — perhaps even bigger this time around.
Toronto has their eyes set on upgrades, especially in their frontcourt, where they are struggling to find adequate play aside from veteran Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl hasn't had an amazing 2025-26 season thus far, but he remains an important part of the team. Fischer wrote in his column that sources revealed Toronto "hoped to retain Jakob Poeltl", rather than letting him go. The more reasonable approach is for Toronto to find Poeltl a competent backup rather than cutting him out entirely, as he is still a fundamental piece of the core despite some struggles.
Enter the Nick Richards discussions, shall we?
Raptors insider Josh Lewenberg also commented on Toronto's perceived inevitability to pursue an in-season deal. During a recent TSN appearance, he noted that the likelihood is "pretty high." He explained that their main goal is to get under the luxury tax, which they are currently less than one million dollars over, and they want to avoid exceeding that threshold. Furthermore, the Raptors are also in a great position because they hold all of their own first-round draft picks. If they choose to do so, they could boldly go all-in by sacrificing that future capital in pursuit of a superstar piece.
Having said that, may the odds be ever in the Raptors' favor.