The Toronto Raptors Should Be Sellers At The Trading Deadline
The Toronto Raptors have gone just 23-30 through 53 games this season.
Last season, the Toronto Raptors were one of the best surprises in the NBA when they finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
They lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs but took Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers to six games.
However, the Raptors have not had a good first half of the 2022-23 season.
Right now, they are 23-30 in 53 games, which has them as the 12th seed.
Even if they are able to make the play-in tournament, they do not look like a team who has a ceiling anywhere higher than the first round.
They should consider trading some of their best players by the end of the NBA Trading Deadline (February 9).
Who Should They Move?
- Fred VanVleet: The NBA Champion point guard will likely be a free agent at the end of this season (he has a player-option for $22.8 million). He is currently averaging 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. This is his seventh season in the NBA, and at 28 years old he could be looking to secure his last big contract. With the way the Raptors are constructed, they may be stuck in mediocrity if they decide to re-sign him. In addition, they shouldn't let him walk as a free agent for nothing.
- O.G. Anunoby: The former Indiana Hoosier is only 25 years old and is one of the better young players in the NBA. He is averaging 16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. Shams Charania of The Athletic recently reported that the New York Knicks have "shown a willingness to offer multiple first-round picks for Anunoby." If that is the case, then the Raptors should highly consider making that move.
