If you're Bobby Webster, there’s undoubtedly a lot of pressure weighing on your shoulders regarding the success — or lack thereof — of the current Raptors core.
Taking over the reins from the revered Masai Ujiri is certainly a tall task, but Webster's impact has already been felt through some major moves made even before Ujiri's departure. For instance, the Collin Murray-Boyles draft pick (which is turning out to be a huge win) and jumping the gun to acquire offensive ceiling raiser Brandon Ingram during last year's trade deadline (also a solid move with the sample thus far).
With the Eastern Conference playing field open for the taking, the Raptors find themselves firmly in the competitive mix, currently sitting at the fourth seed with an impressive 24-16 record.But this roster construction at present is far from the perfect combination to produce true winning success — there could be adjustments, such as finding suitable center depth or perhaps adding a veteran shooter to come off the bench.
But those are just the lateral moves to consider.
If the Raptors really want to go for the moon once more this trade deadline season, they're certainly in a favorable position there as well.
Raptors feeling the heat to make another bold move this season?
And given the recent insights from NBA insider Marc Stein, he seems to think so too.
Fellow NBA insider Jake Fischer revealed prior to the Stein report that Toronto has thrown their name in the hat for acquiring stars on the trade block like Trae Young (who ultimately ended up in Washington), Anthony Davis (whose new injury troubles add to an already complicated situation), and Domantas Sabonis (the issue here is that the Kings are reluctant to take on either of the Raptors' two high-cost contracts, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl, in return).
Stein would follow up on Fischer's intel to suggest that the Raptors and their head honcho are under a sense of pressure, or at least that's the wide belief across the league. Marc Stein would write on Substack from January 11 (subscription required):
"Toronto's various discussions involving those players had led to a belief among numerous rival teams that its post-Masai Ujiri front office, now headed by Bobby Webster, is facing some win-now pressure to do something as splashy as last winter's acquisition of Brandon Ingram."Marc Stein
These next few weeks leading up to the February 5 deadline will be critical — either adding new substance to the win-now pressure claims or revealing new information that shows Toronto's stance remaining relatively passive or facing difficulty in finding a proper trade suitor.
In either case, the rumor mill will undoubtedly keep the Toronto Raptors in the top radar, given their unique position.