The Toronto Raptors will be active this offseason in reshaping their roster. They have already made sweeping changes over the last six months, trading OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam away and in total executing four significant in-season trades.
The question is whether there is still more to be done. Could the Raptors move off of their remaining veterans and fully embrace a year or two of losing to add key players to their core? Would they instead make a trade for a star to pair with Scottie Barnes and try to win right away?
Let’s look at the three players on the roster most likely to be traded away this summer and discuss why they could be on the move.
No. 3: Jalen McDaniels
There is only one reason that Jalen McDaniels will not be traded away this summer, and that is that no other team wants him. The five-year veteran did not look like an NBA player this past season, looking lost on both ends of the court and shooting a frigid 16.9 percent from 3-point range.
The Raptors signed McDaniels to a two-year contract in July of 2023 and got nothing but some moribund minutes out of him this past season. He was a rotational afterthought until injuries hit, and he was a contributing factor to the losing streak.
McDaniels is on a small expiring deal, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world for Toronto to eat that money. Perhaps there is a silver of hope he has a bounce-back year. More likely, McDaniels is a throw-in to whatever other trade the Raptors make, and he is subsequently waived by the team that acquires him. Toronto will want to clear both the money and the roster spot from the books.
No. 2: Chris Boucher
One player remains on the Toronto Raptors’ roster from the 2019 Championship, and that player is Chris Boucher. The longtime backup big man has spent the last six seasons in the 905 and played a total of 356 games for the Raptors.
At one point the franchise surely hoped and expected Boucher to develop into a starting center, but that never happened. They also hoped for a dynamic two-way unicorn who could both block shots (he had that part down) and hit 3-pointers; outside of one strong season in 2020-21, he wasn’t able to consistently knock down shots from the perimeter.
Boucher settled in, therefore, as a reserve big man, able to play the 4 or the 5 but unfit for large minutes. He averaged just 14.1 minutes per game in 50 appearances this past season before suffering a knee injury and missing the end of the season.
In contrast to McDaniels, while Boucher is no longer in the Raptors’ plans moving forward, his $10.8 million salary is significant enough that (1) Toronto could free up real options in free agency by dumping him on a team with cap space, or (2) the Raptors could use him as matching salary in a trade for a valuable player.
Either way, Boucher being traded off of the team helps out Toronto, so look for them to shop him around and see if another team wants to take a shot on his skillset.
No. 1: Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown is both the obvious answer to lead this list and may not even be on the roster at all to be traded this summer. The Raptors have until the end of June to decide whether to let Brown walk in free agency or to exercise his team option and bring him back on a $23 million contract for next season.
If they do the latter, it almost has to be because they have the framework of a deal worked out. If the Raptors don’t have any leads in free agency, perhaps they exercise the option, operate as an over-the-cap team and hope for a trade to materialize. That is a risky move, however, and $23 million is a lot to risk on a deal coming together.
Instead, if the Raptors do bring him back, the trade will need to be in place already. It could be something negotiated around the draft, or perhaps a move to send Brown to a contender, but if Brown is on the roster on July 1st he is close to a lock to be traded.
The Raptors don’t want Brown as a part of their long-term core; he is not the best fit as they will prioritize shooting and off-ball gravity. Brown will fit better on a team with more spacing that could benefit from his on-ball play.
There are a few other players on the roster who could be on the move. Jakob Poeltl is a name to watch if the Raptors fully embrace a rebuild, but they clearly love Poeltl and would have some egg on their face if they traded him away right after losing the eighth overall pick from their initial trade for him. Ochai Agbaji could also be a piece in a trade as his start in Toronto did not go well.
Of them all, however, Bruce Brown is the player most likely to be traded away this summer.
