By the time yesterday’s 3:00 pm trade deadline took effect, most Raptors fans had already accepted the reality that would soon be confirmed by an Adrian Wojnarowski tweet: Toronto was not trading any of its core players. For some, this was confounding, even infuriating. For others, the news spawned a sigh of relief. For now it’s tough to really assess the Toronto’s trade deadline, but one thing is for sure: the Raptors play the Utah Jazz tonight, a team whose roster currently includes Russell Westbrook. It’s a strange time of year.
The Raptors’ lone move at the deadline – trading a top-six protected 2024 first-round pick, two second-round picks, and Khem Birch for Jakob Poeltl – signalled that the front office believes the current roster, with the (re-)addition of a starting-caliber center, is good enough to be competitive in the playoff hunt.