>>Seldom has a non-glamour team given up three very good players — including two All-Stars, and one All-NBA honoree — before any of them even turns 30, and not as part of a coordinated tank job.
>>The Raptors let Fred VanVleet walk last year. In a span of 19 days last season, they traded OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam for a combination of young-ish veterans and four valuable draft picks. Toronto spun one of those picks into one more youngish veteran (Ochai Agbaji) and a backup center (Kelly Olynyk) older than all three of the beloved homegrown players they had just jettisoned. And before any of that, the Raptors made a win-now deal by flipping a lightly protected first-round pick to the Spurs for Jakob Poeltl. (That pick became Rob Dillingham.)
>>Step back, and the array of deals resembles one of those blurry Magic Eye photos. Maybe it snaps into focus if you gaze at it just right. Maybe it’s just a mish-mash.
>>The Siakam/Anunoby/VanVleet trio is earning about $121 million combined this season, and the first two are beginning long-term deals. Keeping all three alongside Scottie Barnes, Poeltl and a supporting cast would have pushed the Raptors well into the luxury tax and possibly toward the second apron. Keeping just two could have landed Toronto under the tax, but the Raptors clearly concluded such a team would not have been able to compete at the top of the East. They might have worried those veterans would not carry much trade value on new contracts.
>>But why not bottom out and play for Victor Wembanyama? Probably because they already had bottomed out — in the infamous Tampa Tank season of 2020-21, when the injury-riddled Raptors relocated to Florida and lost their way to Barnes. The Raptors have since tried to thread the needle of getting younger and financially leaner while remaining at least semi-competitive as Barnes ascends.
>>This places a ton of pressure on Barnes and Immanuel Quickley — the jewel of the Anunoby trade from Toronto’s perspective. Those two will earn about $71 million combined in 2025-26, and showed some nice early chemistry — including in pick-and-rolls in which either could work as screener or ball handler. (Quickley’s five year, $175 million deal sounds like an overpay, but it’s not. It stays flat year over year, and will amount to something like 17% of the cap in 2027-28.)
>>Poeltl and RJ Barrett hold two other spots in a small-ish starting five. In a limited sample — almost 200 minutes — that foursome blitzed opponents by about 14 points per 100 possessions without Siakam, per Cleaning The Glass.
>>The fifth spot will be an open competition between Gradey Dick, Davion Mitchell, Bruce Brown, Agbaji — and maybe even rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, taken with one of the selections Toronto received for Siakam. The team probably hopes Dick earns the job, and though he shot poorly at summer league, his all-around play in Las Vegas combined with his solid shooting as a rookie bodes well for him opening the season as a starter.
>>That would give Toronto a pile of solid guards and wings off the bench to play alongside Olynyk. Those lineups could play out as small too unless Chris Boucher snares more reserve minutes. Jonathan Mogbo, the No. 31 pick, is a wild card there. Barrett has played some backup power forward, and Barnes can slide there if the Raptors stagger minutes so that one of Barnes and Quickley is always on the floor to orchestrate. The Olynyk/Poeltl double-big look can work in certain matchups.
>>The Raptors own all their future first-round picks outright, and regained full control of their 2025 selection once they conveyed their 2024 pick to San Antonio. When that happened, you would not have blamed some within the Raptors for wondering if they might be in position for another one-year dip ahead of the Flagg draft.
>>Given the steps several bottom-feeders have taken — and others might yet take — that appears to be a very, very long shot. This team projects as too good for that, but also not very good. They may finish No. 9 or 10 by default — the East play-in tournament should be renamed the Default Bowl — but they are looking at a back-end lottery pick.
>>The path back to a conference finals-level team is murky, though that’s not permanent or all that serious an issue today. The Raptors trail the Pacers, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers among East teams waiting for age and payroll issues to bust up the conference’s powerhouses. They might not have meaningful cap room until the summer of 2027, when Barrett’s deal expires.
>>That contract represents an interesting pivot point. Barrett was very good for the Raptors: 22 points on 55% shooting, including 39% on 3s. Was that real? Just as they did with Anunoby, the Raptors have to decide whether Barrett is part of their core on Barnes’s timetable. If they are wary of Barrett’s next contract, they might want to get ahead of it sooner.
>>Really, this is about Barnes. The Raptors are banking on him becoming a superstar. He is already an All-Star at 22, and his size and skill set carry the potential of all-around superstardom. But there is a big gap between semi-regular East All-Star and foundational superstar of a great team. Even if the Raptors are hopeful, no team wants to bet everything on one player bridging that gap. Let’s see how they build this out.
absolutkaos
the Raptors?!
under-discussed by the US media?!
NO. WAY.
turner150
the way he mentions Raps being too good to be worse then 10th makes me feel we’re headed for the exact same fate as Siakam/FVV/OG teams..
Treadmill team
unless we get another top pick which is sounding unlikely..
Raptorsthrowaway1
Im surprised Lowe missed a point about injuries here. An injury to Scottie, Poeltl or IQ would crater this team and we could very well be in the race for a top 5 pick
![Darius Adams & Kayden Mingo, PSA Cardinals (NY) vs. UPlay (CAN) [PEACH JAM OFFICIAL STREAM]](https://www.lovenba.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721325731_maxresdefault_live-150x150.jpg)
4 Comments
>>MAYBE BETTER THAN THEY WANT TO BE?
>>Toronto Raptors
>>Seldom has a non-glamour team given up three very good players — including two All-Stars, and one All-NBA honoree — before any of them even turns 30, and not as part of a coordinated tank job.
>>The Raptors let Fred VanVleet walk last year. In a span of 19 days last season, they traded OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam for a combination of young-ish veterans and four valuable draft picks. Toronto spun one of those picks into one more youngish veteran (Ochai Agbaji) and a backup center (Kelly Olynyk) older than all three of the beloved homegrown players they had just jettisoned. And before any of that, the Raptors made a win-now deal by flipping a lightly protected first-round pick to the Spurs for Jakob Poeltl. (That pick became Rob Dillingham.)
>>Step back, and the array of deals resembles one of those blurry Magic Eye photos. Maybe it snaps into focus if you gaze at it just right. Maybe it’s just a mish-mash.
>>The Siakam/Anunoby/VanVleet trio is earning about $121 million combined this season, and the first two are beginning long-term deals. Keeping all three alongside Scottie Barnes, Poeltl and a supporting cast would have pushed the Raptors well into the luxury tax and possibly toward the second apron. Keeping just two could have landed Toronto under the tax, but the Raptors clearly concluded such a team would not have been able to compete at the top of the East. They might have worried those veterans would not carry much trade value on new contracts.
>>But why not bottom out and play for Victor Wembanyama? Probably because they already had bottomed out — in the infamous Tampa Tank season of 2020-21, when the injury-riddled Raptors relocated to Florida and lost their way to Barnes. The Raptors have since tried to thread the needle of getting younger and financially leaner while remaining at least semi-competitive as Barnes ascends.
>>This places a ton of pressure on Barnes and Immanuel Quickley — the jewel of the Anunoby trade from Toronto’s perspective. Those two will earn about $71 million combined in 2025-26, and showed some nice early chemistry — including in pick-and-rolls in which either could work as screener or ball handler. (Quickley’s five year, $175 million deal sounds like an overpay, but it’s not. It stays flat year over year, and will amount to something like 17% of the cap in 2027-28.)
>>Poeltl and RJ Barrett hold two other spots in a small-ish starting five. In a limited sample — almost 200 minutes — that foursome blitzed opponents by about 14 points per 100 possessions without Siakam, per Cleaning The Glass.
>>The fifth spot will be an open competition between Gradey Dick, Davion Mitchell, Bruce Brown, Agbaji — and maybe even rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, taken with one of the selections Toronto received for Siakam. The team probably hopes Dick earns the job, and though he shot poorly at summer league, his all-around play in Las Vegas combined with his solid shooting as a rookie bodes well for him opening the season as a starter.
>>That would give Toronto a pile of solid guards and wings off the bench to play alongside Olynyk. Those lineups could play out as small too unless Chris Boucher snares more reserve minutes. Jonathan Mogbo, the No. 31 pick, is a wild card there. Barrett has played some backup power forward, and Barnes can slide there if the Raptors stagger minutes so that one of Barnes and Quickley is always on the floor to orchestrate. The Olynyk/Poeltl double-big look can work in certain matchups.
>>The Raptors own all their future first-round picks outright, and regained full control of their 2025 selection once they conveyed their 2024 pick to San Antonio. When that happened, you would not have blamed some within the Raptors for wondering if they might be in position for another one-year dip ahead of the Flagg draft.
>>Given the steps several bottom-feeders have taken — and others might yet take — that appears to be a very, very long shot. This team projects as too good for that, but also not very good. They may finish No. 9 or 10 by default — the East play-in tournament should be renamed the Default Bowl — but they are looking at a back-end lottery pick.
>>The path back to a conference finals-level team is murky, though that’s not permanent or all that serious an issue today. The Raptors trail the Pacers, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers among East teams waiting for age and payroll issues to bust up the conference’s powerhouses. They might not have meaningful cap room until the summer of 2027, when Barrett’s deal expires.
>>That contract represents an interesting pivot point. Barrett was very good for the Raptors: 22 points on 55% shooting, including 39% on 3s. Was that real? Just as they did with Anunoby, the Raptors have to decide whether Barrett is part of their core on Barnes’s timetable. If they are wary of Barrett’s next contract, they might want to get ahead of it sooner.
>>Really, this is about Barnes. The Raptors are banking on him becoming a superstar. He is already an All-Star at 22, and his size and skill set carry the potential of all-around superstardom. But there is a big gap between semi-regular East All-Star and foundational superstar of a great team. Even if the Raptors are hopeful, no team wants to bet everything on one player bridging that gap. Let’s see how they build this out.
the Raptors?!
under-discussed by the US media?!
NO. WAY.
the way he mentions Raps being too good to be worse then 10th makes me feel we’re headed for the exact same fate as Siakam/FVV/OG teams..
Treadmill team
unless we get another top pick which is sounding unlikely..
Im surprised Lowe missed a point about injuries here. An injury to Scottie, Poeltl or IQ would crater this team and we could very well be in the race for a top 5 pick