Toronto Raptors

After being very close to trading Kyle Lowry at the NBA trade deadline, the Raptors ultimately held onto the 6x All-Star point guard and traded away Norman Powell for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood. Since the deadline, the Raptors are 0-4 and they have lost 15 of their last 17 games. 

This team is trending downhill quickly and they are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. After just winning their first championship in franchise history in 2019, the Raptors are now in a really bad position, especially with Kyle Lowry set to become a free agent. 

If he winds up leaving and going to either the 76ers or the Heat in free agency, then the Raptors’ decision not to trade him at this year’s deadline could go down as the worst move ever made in their organization’s history. In the event Lowry leaves, the Raptors will have some cap space to go after a replacement for Lowry and what better player to target as a replacement than Jrue Holiday! 

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Toronto has always been a very defensive-focused team and with Holiday being one of the better two-way guards in this league, he would fit right in next to Fred VanVleet in the backcourt. Not to mention, he could be a great scoring option that they so desperately need. 

Trading away Norman Powell is really going to come back to hurt the Raptors long-term, which is why they should have traded Lowry instead. At 35-years-old now, Lowry presents no future to this organization and with the way he has played this season, is not the high-level player he once was a couple of seasons ago. 

If the worst happens, then Jrue Holiday could absolutely be a target for the Toronto Raptors, but they are not thinking about future free agency right now. Their only concern is figuring out ways to win games and potentially sneak into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference at this rate.