More Changes Loom for Raptors Following Devastating Loss to Pistons

The Toronto Raptors can’t be done yet.

Saturday marked the first step in whatever this new direction is for the organization. Seemingly out of nowhere, Toronto sent OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons.

It was a move to get younger, get more cost certainty, and change things up because, after 31 games this season, it was clear this group wasn’t good enough.

But now what?

An embarrassing 129-127 loss to the Pistons snapping Detroit’s NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak Saturday showed there’s a lot more work to do. Sure, it was the second night of a back-to-back down a few players but a loss like that is inexcusable and Toronto has to realize that.

Early indications suggest a deal involving Pascal Siakam will be coming eventually. There’s nothing imminent, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but Toronto is expected to “explore trades” involving the former All-NBA forward.

Moving Siakam would make Barrett fit a little more comfortably on his new team. While Barrett has developed into a solid 18.2 point-per-game scorer, he’s been a below-average three-point shooter for his career and he’s at his best when he’s operating near the hoop in a similar area to Siakam.

That’s not going to be easy and certainly won’t make Toronto better this year as Siakam’s 35-point showing against Detroit proved. He may not be a superstar player, but he’s a star and the kind of player who can attack mismatches and dominate. His 20-point third quarter was exactly the kind of outburst rival teams should be salivating over.

Gary Trent Jr. is the other player whose time with the organization is likely nearing the end. Like Anunoby and Siakam, he is on an expiring contract and the addition of Quickley, another combo score-first guard, makes Trent’s skillset a tad redundant. It’s certainly OK to have both of them moving forward but it seems unlikely Toronto is going to pay both Trent and Quickley upward of $20 million per season for similar skills.

Trent will be of value to someone. He’s inconsistent and at times maddening when he’s not scoring, but he’s a solid floor spacer and should be an adequate bench guard on a team with championship aspirations. On a better team, he’d have more open opportunities to cash in open threes, the kind he nailed six of Saturday night for 24 points.

Toronto might not want to stop there either.

Jakob Poeltl can’t be traded until January 15, but after that, Toronto might want to listen to offers for the 7-foot Austrian. He’s never been the top-10 center the Raptors claimed they were acquiring and far too often he’s been unplayable in the fourth quarter. Losing Precious Achiuwa certainly complicates the matter as Toronto essentially has no backup center right now, but if winning isn’t the goal for this season, a Poeltl move would make sense to rejig this roster around Scottie Barnes.

Then there’s Dennis Schröder who has proven to be a solid bench point guard who should slide back into the sixth- or seventh-man spot once Barrett and Quickley arrive. Losing Flynn makes Schröder more valuable, but if someone wants to give up a young player for Toronto’s 30-year-old, the Raptors should certainly consider it.

A 24-point showing against the Pistons from Schröder should only help his trade value, at least to the extent that any one game can change a player’s value.

The fact that the Raptors felt so thin so quickly against the Pistons without Barrett and Quickley available to play Saturday only showed there’s plenty of work to be done. It was that lack of depth that forced Toronto into a 10-point hole against the Pistons in the first place.

But at least the Raptors have done something.

After a year and a half of stagnation, Toronto has begun the process of building around Scottie Barnes. Maybe it took longer than it should have, but now it’s happening and it’s unlikely to stop now.

Up Next: Cleveland Cavaliers

The Raptors will briefly return home Monday to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET before hitting the road for a six-game West Coast road trip.