Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors End Road Trip on a High But Changes Loom as Toronto Returns Home
It's decision time.
For weeks now the Toronto Raptors have suggested they're going to be patient ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline. They reportedly told teams they wanted to wait for their seven-game West Coast road trip to come to an end before reevaluating their options.
But now it's over. A victory 106-103 Sunday against the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies clinched a 4-3 road trip. Impressive, but not enough to make a meaningful difference this year.
So, what did we learn?
Well, for one, Scottie Barnes is the future. Despite struggling for the better part of three-quarters Sunday, the 21-year-old found his groove late as he has so often this season. He quit with his three-point shooting and took it to the hoop over and over again late in the quarter, scoring 13 points in the final frame including the go-ahead bucket right at Jaren Jackson Jr. in the final minute.
It also proved Toronto's front office is very good, but there have been at least a couple of significant mistakes lately. Trading away their first-round pick last season in the Thad Young deal cost them a shot at Kessler Walker, the Utah Jazz's rookie center who dominated the Raptors earlier in the week. On Sunday, it was Desmond Bane, the man selected one spot after Malachi Flynn in 2020, that buried Toronto early. The 24-year-old nailed four three-pointers in the first half en route to game-high 26 points on the night.
This Raptors team has shown it has individual talent individually. Fred VanVleet has been phenomenal over the past two months, he helped Toronto clinch victory against Memphis with a crucial block against Bane in the final 17 seconds. Even Chris Boucher has looked pretty solid lately. He came off the bench for 17 points against the Grizzlies and immediately made a difference for Toronto, nailing a trio of three-pointers and working with Thad Young, who had maybe his best game as a Raptor, to erase Memphis' 15-point second-half lead.
But overall, this team just hasn't been good enough. The defense Toronto used to pride itself on has disappeared far too often this year. Memphis whizzed the ball around with ease, getting into the paint, and scoring buckets with little-to-no resistance in the first half before the Raptors finally clamped down in the second.
As for what the future holds, there's no way to look at this team as anything other than a failure this year. The road trip didn't miraculously bring this group together. It didn't save this season. Instead, it exposed Toronto's flaws: A lack of cohesion, missing chemistry, and an unbalanced roster.
The Kyrie Irving trade Sunday afternoon was the first major shakeup of the trade deadline week. The Brooklyn Nets got two valuable rotation players, an unprotected future first-round pick, and a pair of seconds from the Dallas Mavericks for an uber-talented, albeit troubled point guard.
Now the pressure is on the rest of the league to respond. The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers both need more ball-handling and three-point shooting. Memphis and New Orleans should both be looking to respond to Dallas' move. Even the Nets have reportedly been in contact with Toronto, looking to make a second move on the heels of their first, per SNY's Ian Begley.
Winning the West Coast trip was impressive, relatively speaking, but it won't be enough. A victory over the Ja Morant, Steven Adams, and Dillon Brooks-less Grizzlies won't change that.
Up Next: San Antonio Spurs
The Raptors will finally return home for a couple of days off before taking on the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
