Raptors: 2 trades Toronto still must target in 2023 NBA offseason

The Toronto Raptors are at a crossroads. They fired their head coach Nick Nurse and replaced him with a first time head coach in Darko Rajakovic. Fred VanVleet walked in free agency to the Houston Rockets and they were only able to replace him with Dennis Schröder.

The Raptors are pretty far from being title contenders too. After winning the title in 2019, the Raptors haven't made it past the second round since and have missed the playoffs entirely more (2) than they have playoff series wins (1) in that time span.

There's a reason why there has been Pascal Siakam trade buzz in the air this summer, and why they should go through in trading him.

Siakam's Contract Situation

There are variables to this trade equation though. Siakam is entering the final year of his contract. He is trying to make it clear that he wants to stay in Toronto, or at least that's what he told Yahoo's Chris Haynes.

Perhaps that's just posturing. He could become eligible for a Supermax extension if he earns an All-NBA spot next season. Betting on himself to do that for the third time in his career and land more money with the Raptors isn't the most outlandish idea. Maybe Siakam and his camp are already planting the seeds to try to steer him to a particular destination he has in mind that we don't know yet. Maybe.

The Raptors can't let him walk out of the door for nothing if they're sold on the idea of not being a title contender, not wanting to pay him a potential supermax, and/or wanting to give the keys to the franchise entirely to Scottie Barnes. As we've mentioned before, the Raptors aren't contenders now or are all that close. Part of the reason why that is not just because of the weird fit with Siakam, Barnes, and OG Anunoby, but of the asset drain that has left the organization.

Walking Out the Door

When the Raptors traded for Kawhi Leonard in the summer of 2018, they knew what they were getting into. If the experiment was a disaster, then they could just pivot to a rebuild after trading away DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a first-round pick. At least they got a title out of that transaction.

But since then, Marc Gasol, Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell, and Fred VanVleet have all left the building and all the Raptors to show for them is Precious Achiuwa and Gary Trent Jr., who is also on the last year of his contract after he opted into his player option this summer. VanVleet's departure only made the Raptors' decision to trade a lightly protected first-round pick (top-6 protected in 2024) to bring back Jakob Poeltl all the more strange.

That's just bad asset management by Masai Ujiri and it has hurt Toronto's ability to build around Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes. And now that Siakam is due to be a free agent soon, they can let him walk for nothing when he can net valuable pieces back. So where can they trade him to? Atlanta and Indiana could be possible suitors as both been named as potential suitors in recent reports

What can they get bring back for Siakam, assuming Siakam would agree to a contract extension with either club? Once Jarace Walker is eligible to be traded after signing his rookie contract, a trade with the Pacers could look something like this.

And a Hawks trade could look like this on September 6th.

Paolo Songco ·

Jack Deignan ·

Enzo Flojo ·

Time to Start Over

Again, assuming Pascal Siakam would sign an extension with these teams to make it worth their while to trade for him, it would make sense for Toronto to turn the page. If Siakam would agree to it long term with these teams, this is the last window Toronto has to get something of value out of him.

They're treading towards the mediocrity that Washington was saddled with at the end of Bradley Beal's tenure there more so than they are building to become a menacing playoff team.

If the price is right, they should pull the trigger.