Raptors don’t have many internal options to turn this thing around

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Next Friday is Dec. 15. Why is that date significant in the NBA world? Simple, it marks the day players signed in the off-season become trade eligible. That opens up the market significantly, making it easier for moves to be made.

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That doesn’t mean one should expect the floodgates to open, as a lot of the fireworks already occurred when Damian Lillard and James Harden were dealt, but it’s good news for the Raptors, since the team is in dire need of a change or two, with no internal options that make sense.

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For a minute there it seemed like plugging veteran shooter Otto Porter into the starting lineup could temporarily help. After all, Toronto’s starting five has been amongst the least effective in the entire NBA, performing at far less than the some of its parts. But then Porter, who missed all but eight games in his first year as a Raptor due to a foot injury, hurt the foot again during Friday’s terrible loss in Charlotte. So we went from wondering how soon head coach Darko Rajakovic would move Porter into the starting five, after he talked glowingly about him after Wednesday’s game and after Thursday’s practice, to wondering again how many weeks it’s going to be until we see Porter on the court again this season.

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Porter theoretically would have added needing shooting and switchability as a starter, with Jakob Poeltl still starting against the league’s biggest centres.

There are two other options now, two ways to slap some duct tape on a roster that doesn’t make any sense and hope it somehow can propel this group to a .500 record, or thereabouts. One is to swap out slumping point guard Dennis Schroder for slumping shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. — the thinking there would be Trent is the far more proven shooter, even if this hasn’t been his year — but that would remove Schroder’s near team-best play-making abilities and would put a lot of pressure on the likes of Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam as primary ball-handlers, something Rajakovic said he didn’t really want to put on them.

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Option 2 is Malachi Flynn for Schroder. Flynn has made some strides this season after three years where he was mostly buried by former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. But he still hasn’t played at a level screaming for a bigger role. It’s hard to see that swap getting the Raptors any farther ahead.

Which leaves the trade market. Siakam and OG Anunoby will be in huge demand, as they have been for years. The market for Trent won’t be nearly as robust. Toronto also has the filler contracts (like Porter, Thaddeus Young, or Chris Boucher) to make something happen. This front office has been patient to a fault, but surely must see the runway starting to vanish. The longer they wait the further behind the Raptors will fall. The longer they wait the less value their three free agents to be will hold.

Dec. 15 will represent the first chance to do what’s necessary.

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@WolstatSun

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