A lot of eyes in the basketball world will be affixed to the Toronto Raptors in the coming days. The Raptors have been sinking in the Eastern Conference standings, as they have lost 10 out of their last 13 games. That has dropped their record to 16-22 on the NBA season and into 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
They are only one game behind the 10th-place Chicago Bulls, but if they do not start making up ground in the standing soon, they could be surprise sellers ahead of the deadline. There are a lot of teams around the league likely hoping that occurs as the Raptors have some very good players on their roster that could propel other teams into the contender tier.
Gary Trent Jr. has been mentioned in plenty of trade rumors and has been regarded as the likeliest to be on the move. Teams are also now inquiring about Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. To the surprise of no one, the asking price for them is both extremely high.
“Or maybe they go all in and consider trading Siakam and Anunoby for what would likely be massive returns of picks and young talent,” Sportsnet’s Michael Grange wrote. “‘A s—load’ was the ballpark estimate provided by one league insider.”
That seems to be the consensus based on different sources around the league. The sources that Matt Moore of Action Network spoke to described Toronto’s asking price as insane, astronomical and far-fetched.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby & Toronto Raptors Updates
Based on that information, it doesn’t sound like any deals will be made involving the core Raptor players. However, if their current homestand does not go well, the thinking of management and ownership could change.
The six-game homestand got off on the wrong foot as the Raptors lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. They need to start building some positive momentum as they will be playing on the road in 10 out of 13 games leading up to the trade deadline.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby & Toronto Raptors Updates
These next five games are imperative as they could determine the direction they take the franchise. If they climb the standings, they can convince themselves to be buyers and upgrade the roster. If they continue stumbling, the rebuild many people thought would occur in 2022 would be on the table ahead of the 2023 deadline.
