The Toronto Raptors must trade OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam at some point before the NBA Trade Deadline in order to avoid disaster.
After missing out on Damian Lillard, the writing continues to be on the wall that a rebuild or a retooling, at the very least, is on the horizon for the Toronto Raptors. With Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby both entering the final year of their contract with the Raptors, it seems like both could be eyeing potential departures.
During Raptors media day, Siakam sounded very much like a player who is buying his time before hitting free agency. For Anunoby, it was recently reported that he plans on testing free agency, at the very least, next summer.
The way things are trending right now for the Raptors, there’s a strong chance they may have to think about trading both Siakam and Anunoby before they can hit the open free-agency market.
The Toronto Raptors must be proactive to avoid a disaster
Looking back to this past offseason, it’s easy to look back in retrospect that the Raptors probably should’ve traded Fred VanVleet at last year’s NBA Trade Deadline. Toronto lost VanVleet for nothing this summer when he elected to sign with the Houston Rockets in free agency. If Toronto isn’t careful, they could be looking at the same eventual fate for both Siakam and Anunoby.
With both Anunoby and Siakam trending toward testing the open market, it’s probably in the best interest of the Raptors to explore their trade markets before the deadline if they want to avoid disaster.
Let’s explore the potential markets for both Siakam and Anunoby.
Potential suitors for Pascal Siakam
Heading into the NBA Trade Deadline season, there’s an expectation that the market for Pascal Siakam will expand and not shrink as it gets closer. Over the last few months, the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks have been two teams linked to Siakam. I’d be shocked if either of those two teams weren’t still interested if the price was right.
Other potential fits around the league could include the likes of the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, and even a dark horse team like the Oklahoma City Thunder. The big question is whether or not any of those teams would be willing to take such a gamble on a player who may not initially agree to a contract extension.
Among other things, you’d have to imagine that the Raptors have had a difficult time weighing their trade options for Siakam at least in part because of his interest in testing his free agent market next summer. And he has every right to do so, but it makes trading him that much more difficult for the Raptors.
But maybe there’s a team out there that can get a soft guarantee from Siakam and his agent through some good old-fashioned back-channeling. At this point, the Raptors might need to be secretly hoping for that.
Potential suitors for OG Anunoby
The possibility of trading OG Anunoby is where it gets interesting for the Toronto Raptors. There’s an argument to be made that if the Raptors were to shop Anunoby on the open market before the trade deadline, he could warrant as many as three future first-round picks. Anunoby is one of the most underrated two-way stars who is still getting better as a player.
At just 26 years old, Anunoby is still getting better and hasn’t played his best basketball yet. In the right situation, Anunoby can seemingly take another step forward in his progression. If he were available on the open market, there’d be a huge market for him. Think of teams that are close to contending but are still a star player away from making noise – a few good fits that come to mind are the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers.
For now, it seems that Anunoby is the best asset that the Raptors have on their roster they could seemingly move next. Ultimately, the decision falls on the Raptors. Will they get to a point where they’re finally ready to trade Anunoby?
Will the Toronto Raptors pull the trigger?
The decision to either blow up the roster or not falls on Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri. But after missing out on making a big addition during the offseason, there’s a very real possibility that the Raptors choose to fully lean into the youth movement with Scottie Barnes. And if that’s the route the Raptors end up taking, trading both Anunoby and Siakam might be exactly the move that would put the team in the best situation to build around Barnes in the future.
Think of it this way; if the Raptors were to trade both Anunoby and Siakam, there’s a chance they end up with 4-5 future first-round picks and perhaps a young player or two. If that’s the possible return vs. possibly losing both of them for nothing this summer, the decision may already be made.
I think many of these decisions depend on how the Raptors look during the first half of the season. If Toronto hits its stride early on in the season and is in the conversation to finish as a top 4 seed in the East, I firmly believe the front office will keep the team as is – even if a potential disaster awaits them in the offseason. But if the Raptors get off to a slow start, that might be enough to get Ujiri to finally pull the trigger.