Raptors Head to Trade Deadline Escaping Disaster vs Hornets

There’s still plenty of work to do.

That should be how the Toronto Raptors approach the trade deadline now just hours away. Sure, the heavy lifting is done. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are long gone, but the Raptors can’t be done yet. As team president Masai Ujiri said early last month, there are “definitely” more deals to be made.

Wednesday’s 123-117 victory over the Charlotte Hornets showed exactly where the Raptors are at.

Toronto is bad — almost as bad as Charlotte.

It says something that RJ Barrett has been Toronto’s best player since joining the organization. He was considered the salary-matching player in the Anunoby deal, not the centerpiece. But neither Scottie Barnes nor Immanuel Quickley has outplayed the 23-year-old Canadian who has just continued to look stellar since the trade.

Barrett dropped 23 points including eight in the fourth quarter as Toronto clinched a come-from-behind victory to narrowly escape another disastrous loss to the Hornets.

What’s clear moving forward is Toronto needs to continue making moves. If the goal is to get worse and tank, they can do that too.

Barnes will be here at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. So too will Barrett, Quickley, and Gradey Dick. It seems unlikely Toronto will find a suitor for Jakob Poeltl, and it’d be tough to see the Raptors trading Jordan Nwora or Kira Lewis Jr. But after that, everyone should be for sale.

Atop that list is Bruce Brown Jr. who gave Toronto a scare Wednesday when he injured his left hand trying to strip Brandon Miller of the ball. He stayed in the game but had his hand looked at between stints. Considering where the Raptors are at and Brown’s trade value, there was really no reason to have him push it.

Chris Boucher and Otto Porter Jr. may be the next most likely Raptors to be dealt. Neither of them has much if any trade value, but a second-round pick for either of the veterans should be enough of a return to please Toronto for two players who have been out of the rotation for a while now.

Gary Trent Jr.’s future with Toronto seems the most complicated of anyone who could be dealt. His contract situation suggests the Raptors should try to move him ahead of his free agency this summer. Losing him for nothing wouldn’t be quite as bad as the Fred VanVleet situation last summer, but it wouldn't be ideal either.

On the other hand, Trent isn’t likely to return much for Toronto and if that’s the case, maybe it’s worth re-signing the 25-year-old sharpshooter on a less expensive deal than the one he’s currently on. He’s shown little to no development with the Raptors, but he came into Wednesday shooting 42.2% from three-point range this season and nailed four threes against the Hornets. At some point, it’s worth just keeping him around to help with floor spacing.

The chances of a Dennis Schröder’s trade took a hit when the Minnesota Timberwolves added Monte Morris, but at this point, Schröder would be far more valuable as a backup guard on a playoff-bound team. He chipped in 16 points off the bench for Toronto and has looked like a player who could help, but the Raptors shouldn’t be prioritizing winning, and it’s worth just moving on from the 30-year-old point guard.

Anything in terms of future draft capital should be the priority for Toronto but if players are coming back, some defense wouldn’t hurt. The Raptors have gone from being a defense-first team to a team that can’t seem to stop anyone these days.

It took Charlotte just over three minutes to jump ahead by double digits thanks to lights-out three-point shooting and some abysmal defense from Toronto. Miles Bridges dropped 45 points including 21 in the third quarter.

The Hornets led for the first 35 minutes before Barrett put the camps on Bridges midway through the fourth and then tied things up with a corner three-pointer on a kick-out pass from Poeltl. Moments later, Dick nailed a three to give Toronto its first lead of the night.

Toronto strangely pulled Dick from the game in favor of Schröder and that lead quickly disappeared. Barnes didn’t close out hard enough on Miller and Charlotte jumped back ahead.

But Barrett wouldn’t go away. He continued his remarkable start to his Raptors tenure with big-time buckets, giving Toronto a late lead on a corner three-pointer. Quickley followed it up with a driving layup and the Raptors survived.

Toronto wasn’t going to catch Charlotte in the reverse standings, so in that respect the victory wasn’t all that costly for the Raptors, but it could impact how Toronto fairs against the Memphis Grizzlies.

If that's what the Raptors care about moving forward, this teardown isn't over yet.

Up Next: Houston Rockets

The Raptors will return home Thursday for the trade deadline before taking on the Fred VanVleet-less Houston Rockets on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.