NBA Power Rankings: The curious case of the Knicks; red-hot Magic surging in East

The New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic are the subject of this week's NBA Power Rankings.

Charlotte Hornets v Orlando Magic
Charlotte Hornets v Orlando Magic | Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
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21. Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are a team that many around the league are keeping a close eye on. With a couple of the bigger NBA Trade candidates on their roster, the Raptors could end up being big players in the transaction market over the next couple of months. But first, the Raptors need to figure out if they want to be buyers or sellers at the deadline. Basically, does this team want to continue down a win-now mode, or do they want to do some retooling around Scottie Barnes?

Either way, it won't be an easy decision. It will be even more difficult to maneuver. The Raptors have been just fine this season. The problem is that's likely not good enough. As talented as the Raptors roster is on paper, they should be performing better than just fine. And that could end up being a deciding factor for a team that is still trying to blueprint its future.

The continued development of Barnes is something the Raptors should feel good about. It's everything around Barnes that the Raptors have to be second-guessing at the moment.