NBA Trade Rumors: OG Anunoby may quietly want out of Toronto. Will that impact his availability at the NBA Trade Deadline?
The Toronto Raptors are a team that many believe could end up making a big move at the NBA Trade Deadline. They have plenty of players that will be hot commodities over the next couple of weeks and even more so if it’s indeed true that the Raptors will be looking to reshuffle their roster.
And recently, the two players that are considered potential trade candidates (for obvious reasons, they are on essentially expiring contracts heading into the offseason) are Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. That said, it would still come as somewhat of a surprise if the Raptors did end up trading either of them. But there is another player on their roster that many rival teams are keeping a close eye on – OG Anonoby.
There are whispers from people who would be in the know (Raptors reporters) that suggest Anunoby could want out of Toronto. If those rumblings are indeed true, you can’t help but wonder how that could quietly impact the team and how they operate at the trade deadline.
Could the Toronto Raptors trade OG Anunoby at the NBA Trade Deadline?
Anunoby could test free agency after next season. Though, the expectation is that the Raptors would want to try and sign him to a long-term extension before it even gets to that point. That means they could try to sign him to an extension this offseason. But if Anunoby doesn’t want to sign a long-term extension in Toronto, it could make for an interesting next few months for the team.
And if Anunoby is looking for a change of scenery, it could absolutely impact how the team approaches this year’s deadline.
If Anunoby wants out, you’d have to imagine that, at least on some level, it would have a big impact on decisions that the team needs to make regarding possible extensions for VanVleet and Trent Jr. Perhaps even for Pascal Siakam, who is also a free agent after next season.
It appeared that the championship window for this current core was 1-2 years with how their contracts were lined up, but perhaps that is now closed. And perhaps it’s time the Raptors begin to retool their roster around Scottie Barnes in a new era of Raptors basketball.
At the very least, it’s a difficult conversation that the Raptors need to have before this year’s NBA Trade Deadline.