The Toronto Raptors Need A Plan

With Fred VanVleet leaving Toronto for the Houston Rockets – who thoroughly compensated him to the tune of $128 million over three years – the Raptors find themselves at a crossroads…again.

Dating back to the trade deadline of last season, the Raptors were fully aware that they could lose VanVleet this summer, which ended up happening. They also knew that Gary Trent Jr had the option to enter unrestricted free agency, but to their luck he picked up his player option, and can now hit the open market in 12 months.

Furthermore, the contractual situation of O.G. Anunoby, who can also become an unrestricted free agent next summer, is complicated. While the NBA and NBPA agreed to increase extension values to 140% of the last completed salary season (up from 120%), Anunoby could still get offered a contract on the open market that would see him earn more 40% on top of his current $18.6 million salary.

And finally, Pascal Siakam – the team’s best player – is also walking towards an unknown future given that his contract too is up after the end of this season, and so far nothing has materialized in regards to a contract extension. If nothing has changed next July, Siakam could join Anunoby and Trent Jr as a flight risk.

Essentially, the Raptors have to act, and they have to do so sooner than later.

They re-signed Jakob Pöltl to a four-year deal worth $78 million this summer, after trading for him at the deadline when they decided to go all-in. That seemed ambitious at the time, and while Pöltl is a fine center worth his contract, he’s not going to turn the current iteration of the Raptors into a championship contender.

While Pöltl is locked up, and thus isn’t a concern for Toronto, it’s fair to wonder if the Raptors would be better off blowing the current roster to smithereens, including pivoting off Pöltl, and starting over fresh with third-year forward Scottie Barnes, and rookie wing Gradey Dick, as the two lone keepers.

Of course, it’s not exactly great timing to be blowing things up. The price for stars changed dramatically after the implementation of the new collective bargaining agreement, and what the Raptors could have gotten for Siakam at the deadline is likely not on the table now. The same goes for Anunoby.

The Raptors would need a plethora of picks and young players coming back if they are to send out Siakam and Anunoby, but teams will press them on the fact that both are under short-term contracts, and are thus less valuable in trade circumstances.

While that’s certainly not optimal from the side of Toronto, you have to wonder what exactly the alternative is at this point.

They already lost VanVleet for nothing, and should something similar happen next season involving one, more or even all of Siakam, Anunoby, and Trent Jr, it’d be an outright disaster.

While teams shouldn’t panic, the Raptors are finding themselves in a situation where they need to be proactive. If they fail to lock up their three pending free agents to extensions before the start of the regular season, onus should be on management to put them on the block, and take the best offer for each, even if those offers come in lower than what they’ve hoped.

That will unquestionably be a tough pill to swallow, both for the organization and the fan base, but that is the consequence of being passive, which the Raptors have certainly been over the past year.

They could have gotten out ahead of the situation, but they decided to be buyers at arguably the worst time, and now they’re already down one former All-Star. A loss that will sting for a while, not just on the court but from an asset perspective as well.

Not repeating the results of this summer must be of enormous priority.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.