What To Know About Raptors Ahead Of Trade Deadline

The trade landscape has shifted dramatically over the weekend

Fun couple days in the NBA, eh?

We are all still reeling from Luka Doncic getting traded to the L.A. Lakers and Anthony Davis making his way to the Dallas Mavericks.

De’Aaron Fox going to the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine reuniting with DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento a day later is like being at a restaurant and the appetizers coming out after the mains are served.

The ripple effect of the Doncic deal may not start as soon as these next few days, but certainly in seasons to come. I was under the impression the second apron salary cap implications would force organizations to become more ruthless towards second tier stars like we saw with Pascal Siakam and Karl-Anthony Towns, not someone at the top of the heap like Doncic.

Hopefully, it’s an unbelievably rare case of horrible management. If not, the Super Max in the Second Apron era is marriage made in hell.

Let’s shift gears and focus on Toronto.

The Raptors picked up another strong win on Sunday afternoon, beating the L.A. Clippers 115-108. All five starters were very good, even if Immanuel Quickley’s efforts don’t stand out because he only played 17 minutes as he works his way back into game shape.

Ochai Agbaji was the standout bench performer, scoring 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field while adding five rebounds, three assists, a steal, and three blocks. There were several standout plays defensively, the one where he picked up James Harden full court, fought through a screen to stick with him and blocked him at the rim probably the best of the lot.

He’s looked increasingly comfortable off the bench and it’s a necessary transition with this being his likely long term role in the league.

Ja’Kobe Walter also shone with 10 points and four rebounds including a nice slam right in the mug of Ivica Zubac, even earning a bit of a shove from the Croatian in frustration. Watching him more and more, I would imagine Darko Rajakovic and his staff will look to clean up some stuff with his jumper in the off-season. Especially off the dribble, it feels a bit too slow for him to the point of rising up.

Below is an example with a pull-up triple he nailed while being defended by Nicolas Batum. Kudos for shaking Batum so hard he had plenty of time for the shot:

Kelly Olynyk, Chris Boucher, and Bruce Brown all saw minutes in the high teens. Davion Mitchell sat out with plantar callus in his right foot. The Raptors have a back-to-back on Feb. 4th (Knicks) and 5th (Grizzlies) ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline and it wouldn’t surprise me if all four players sat out the game on Wednesday.

Here are the key things to keep track of leading up to Thursday if you’re a Raptors fan:

Who’s In Play For Butler?

The most likely path for Brown to be involved in a trade is as an ancillary piece in a Jimmy Butler trade. If you are team tank, you are pro Butler getting dealt before the deadline because Brown has been a very positive contributor since returning from injury.

We know that Butler wants Phoenix and that he has already told both the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies he has no interest in re-signing with those teams in the summer. The Houston Rockets do not appear to be interested in Butler and the Dallas Mavericks appear to be out of the running after acquiring Anthony Davis.

What could prevent Brown from being involved in a Butler deal? A preference for an alternative expiring salary such as Malcolm Brogdon’s $22.5M with Washington or Bojan Bogdanovic’s $19M with Brooklyn. Many iterations of possible deals will have been drawn up by the Miami Heat by now and it’s a question of finding the machination that can get it over the line. At least four-plus teams are expected to be involved if a deal gets over the line.

It’s plausible any of Boucher, Olynyk, or Mitchell end up being involved in the deal as well.

Also, with Golden State reportedly ruled out as a destination for Butler, you can put those Andrew Wiggins to the Raptors rumours to bed.

Nuggets, Knicks, Clippers Lead Interest in Boucher

Denver missed out on Zach LaVine but ever since Russell Westbrook’s inclusion in the starting lineup, the organization seems more intent on adding around the edges.

A player like Boucher would look great on the Nuggets and can provide exactly the kind of pop off the bench Denver is lacking at the minute. I have loved every minute of Boucher in Toronto this season, bouncing back from a tough 2023-24 season in such a professional, disciplined, and determined manner. Get him to a team in win-now mode.

I am a bit skeptical of Boucher’s fit on the Knicks because he doesn’t address much of their needs. That team needs frontcourt defence and has no issues scoring the basketball. The Clippers just traded P.J. Tucker and now have Drew Eubanks as their backup centre. There’s no other salary to make the deal work.

As mentioned before, I would love for Oklahoma City to nab him.

What About Brandon Ingram?

Jake Fischer and Marc Stein reported on The Stein Line that Masai Ujiri is a fan of Brandon Ingram’s game. To sum up the interest in a vacuum, Ingram has proven he can get his shot off at any time and that ability would complement Barnes.

His mid-range is absolutely butter, having shot better than 50 percent from the 10-16 foot range in each of the last four seasons.

The sample size of Ingram getting it done in the post-season is limited, though. He was excellent in his first playoff series in 2021-22 going up against the Phoenix Suns, averaging 27.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists while shooting 47.5 percent from the field in a six-game series loss.

His next series came last season against the Thunder in the first round, but Ingram was a shell of himself due to injury. The Pelicans have not been able to get Ingram to agree to a contract extension and so have been open to offers for him.

I like Ingram as a player and, while some might initially question the fit next to Scottie Barnes, I think the improvement in Ingram’s 3-point stroke makes it worth considering. Ingram has averaged over six attempts per game this season while shooting 37.4 percent and he’s at 36.3 percent for his career. If he can keep that volume, it’s easy to see why conversations may have been had/are being had.

Acquiring Ingram wouldn’t necessarily shift Toronto’s plans for the remainder of the season as he hasn’t played since Dec. 7 due to an ankle injury and remains without a timetable to return.

If you can maintain your plans of tanking while making a “free agent acquisition” via trade, this is an interesting way to accelerate the rebuild and get set to fly out of the gates in 2025-26.

Enjoy the madness of the next couple days :)