Raptors Roundup: Trade thoughts, sharp shooting, and MVP Barnes?

Welcome to Raptors Roundup! A weekly recap of everything going on in the world of the Toronto Raptors.

The conversation this week was dominated by Thursday’s trade deadline. Ahead of the deadline there was endless conversation about what the Raptors may or may not do, and afterwards the praise or criticism of what they did do replaced that. I’m mostly just glad that it’s over, and that now we can focus on the second-half playoff push with the team that’s here. A team that may soon see the return of Jakob Poeltl.

While there could still be some moves made on the margins, such as converting a two-way guy (AJ Lawson or Alijah Martin), or perhaps adding a player via the buyout market, this is the core the Raptors are going to war with. I for one am very excited to see what they can do, especially if Poeltl returns and proves able to actually move on the court.

As things currently stand, the Raptors are the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, just 1 game ahead of the sixth seed Philadelphia 76ers and half a game back of the fourth seed Cleveland Cavaliers. Of the top East teams, we have a fairly good idea of how the Raptors match up against all but the Detroit Pistons, who they take on in the only game of the week on Wednesday night.

And do we really know how well Toronto matches the rest of the top contenders? They haven’t played the Cavaliers in months (who made a major deal), and won’t again this season. Then every other team above them (and a few below them) made at least marginal upgrades to their roster, while the Raptors are banking on Poeltl’s return to act as their trade deadline acquisition. With all the shakeup in the conference, it begs the question:

Does the trade deadline change things for Toronto?

Well, yes, but also no. I know that’s kind of a cop out, and borderlines on not being an actual answer, but let me explain. My expectations in the short term for the Raptors have already been exceeded, and while winning a first round matchup would be fantastic, I don’t think losing in the first round changes the overall outlook of this group. What I mean by that is we have a pretty firm understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of this roster, and I think a playoff series will only amplify what we already know. The defense will hold up, and maybe even be better, but the offense will struggle. It will especially struggle in a playoff setting where the defensive intensity is higher and teams will limit the Raptors’ transition opportunities.

So no, in the short term I think it’s irrelevant what happened at the deadline, I think Toronto can still beat the teams they would have beat before, and will lose to the teams they would have lost to anyways (New York, Boston). Save for the Cavaliers, who I think the Raptors could have won a hard-fought series against before, but with the addition of James Harden, I feel far less confident given his surgical destruction of the Raptors down the stretch of the last Clippers game.

The long term implications of this trade deadline in my mind are far more worrisome. Primarily because both the teams at the top and bottom improved: The Boston Celtics added Nikola Vucevic and Jayson Tatum will return eventually, the Cavaliers added Harden, the Charlotte Hornets are surging and added Coby White, the Indiana Pacers picked up their big man of the future in Ivica Zubac as they anticipate Tyrese Haliburton’s return, and even the Washington Wizards are gearing up for competition with Trae Young and Anthony Davis. The competition is only going to get tougher, and the Raptors have clear needs to address. The summer is a good place to address those needs, and I expect that there will be some bigger moves that come then, the Raptors will have more assets and options available to them.

For now, just enjoy the ride, see what the team looks like with a healthy Poeltl, and continue to evaluate who can contribute in a playoff setting. The East is stronger, but the Raptors still have a lot of juice left to squeeze.

Game Recaps

Barnes and Raptors follow the script in textbook loss before trade deadline | Final: 126-128

There is a pattern to Toronto losses. Controlling the game is not enough. When the offence runs dry, such issues last longer for the Raptors than they seem to for other teams. The Raptors couldn’t find a sustainable source of points for too long a stretch in the fourth quarter. Was it the lineup without Barnes and Ingram? Was it the turnovers from Barrett and Shead? Was it the inability of the team to create enough attempts from behind the arc? No matter the answer (and surely all of the above are valid answers), the Raptors have written a script over the last month that dictates the flow of losses. And against the Timberwolves, the Raptors followed it perfectly.

• Louis Zatzman

Top Performers:

1. Scottie Barnes – 22 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 8-11 FG, 1-3 3FG, 6-6 FT, +9 +/-
2. Immanuel Quickley – 23 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 8-12 FG, 6-8 3FG, 1-2 FT, +2 +/-
3. Brandon Ingram – 25 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 1 BLK, 10-22 FG, 3-6 3FG, 2-3 FT +2 +/-

Raptors surpass last season’s record in win over Chicago | Final: 123-107

At 31 wins, the Raptors are now better than they were last season. And we haven’t hit All-Star Weekend yet.

Expectations have changed and yesterday was a must-win against a depleted Chicago Bulls roster that acquired seven new players before the trade deadline. Chicago was the near-equivalent of their G League affiliate, Windy City Bulls.

For the Raptors, this allowed experimentation – for Barnes, playing more of a facilitator role; for BI, relying less on the mid-range; for IQ, the freedom to hoist up 3s (the threat and volume of his 3-point shooting helped a free-flowing offence). 

• Teru Ikeda

Top Performers:

1. Brandon Ingram – 33 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST, 1 BLK, 12-20 FG, 5-9 3FG, 4-4 FT, +7 +/-
2. Collin Murray-Boyles – 17 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 3 BLK, 8-9 FG, 1-2 FT, +20 +/-
3. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 17 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK, 5-9 FG, 4-6 3FG, 3-4 FT +3 +/-

Barnes and Siakam battle as Raptors topple Pacers | Final: 122-104

With yesterday’s performance, Scottie Barnes passed Pascal Siakam for the fifth most double-doubles in Raptors’ history. And I have an inkling Barnes knew that was a possibility. Every time these two match up they seem to turn it up a notch or two. Or in Barnes’ case throughout this one, turning it up five notches as he propelled the Raptors to the win behind a monstrous third quarter. His dominance throughout the frame was the sole separator between victory and defeat.

• Me

Top Performers:

1. Scottie Barnes – 25 PTS, 14 REB, 6 AST 2 STL, 4 BLK, 12-20 FG, 1-1 FT, +22 +/-
2. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 17 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 6-9 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, +17 +/-
3. Trayce Jackson-Davis – 10 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK, 2-4 FG, 6-10 FT +10 +/-

Quick Reaction Roundup

Take a peek at this week’s Quick Reaction grades throughout the week.

	Minnesota Timberwolves	Chicago Bulls	Indiana Pacers	Average grade
Immanuel Quickley	B+	B+	B	B+
RJ Barrett	D	C+	B+	C+
Brandon Ingram	B-	A+	B-	B+
Scottie Barnes	A-	B+	A+	A-
Collin Murray-Boyles	B	A+	Inj	A-
Jamal Shead	C-	B-	B-	C+
Sandro Mamukelashvili	C+	A+	A	A-
Ja’Kobe Walter	C	A+	B+	B+
Gradey Dick	C+	C-	C	C
Trayce Jackson-Davis	N/A	N/A	A+	A+
Jamison Battle	C	B-	Inc.	C+
Darko Rajakovic	C-	A	A-	B

Raptor of the week: Scottie Barnes

Throughout this week’s wins, there was no offensive outliers. Scoring was spread across the board, which is the goal of Rajaković’s offensive style, and it led to the 4th ranked offense over the week. Five players averaged over 16 points a game and shots were actually falling to the tune of 42.1% from beyond the arc. Barnes was a big contributor to that as he used his downhill pressure to collapse the defense and generate open looks. On the defensive side of the ball he dominated the interior, highlighted in his second half showing against the Pacers on Sunday. It was the type of game that gets you excited about his future, when he decides to barrel through the lane, throwing down monstrous dunks he is fully realized as an All-NBA talent, combined with his defensive instincts, swatting four shots, he’s an MVP candidate if you ask Rajaković.

On the week Barnes averaged 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 2.7 stocks while shooting 61.9% from the field, 33.3% from three, and 77.8% from the free throw line. Amazingly, he only shot 9 free throws on the week, which is absurd for someone who attacks the rim as hard as he does. If he can find a way to get the line more often (ahem, refs actually call fouls), he could easily average 23+ points a night.

Current Raptor of the Week standings:

1. Scottie Barnes – 5 times
2. Brandon Ingram – 3 times
3. Collin Murray-Boyles – 2 times
4. Immanuel Quickley – 1 time
5. Ja’Kobe Walter – 1 time

Raptors News and Rumours

Raptors Trade News: Toronto trades for Chris Paul

The Toronto Raptors have traded for Chris Paul in a three team deal. This deal sends Ochai Agbaji, a 2032 Raptors second-rounder, and cash to the Brooklyn Nets, and Chris Paul to the Raptors according to ESPN’s Shams Charania

Paul will not be required to report to Toronto and they could also look to trade him before the deadline. With this move Toronto was able to get out of the tax by shedding Ochai Agbaji’s salary. With reports that trade talks for Sabonis have stalled, this cap-clearing move may be the only transaction Toronto completes before the trade deadline.

• Mikai Bruce

Raptors Trade News: Toronto acquires Trayce Jackson-Davis

The Toronto Raptors have a big man.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Raptors have traded a 2026 second-round pick (via the Lakers) for Golden State Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis.

• Me

Raptors’ Scottie Barnes joins field as Shooting Stars returns to all-star weekend

It’ll be a busy all-star weekend for Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes.

Barnes will compete in the Shooting Stars event on top of participating in the game itself, the league announced Saturday.

• Sportsnet Staff

Looking Ahead

Wednesday, February 11th – Pistons @ Raptors | 7:30pm ET on TSN

Friday, February 13th – Collin Murray-Boyles and Alijah Martin take part in NBA Rising Stars game | 9pm ET

Saturday, February 14th – Scottie Barnes takes part in Shooting Stars Challenge | 5pm ET

Sunday, February 15th
– AJ Lawson shows out in the NBA G-League Next Up game | 2:30pm ET
– Scottie Barnes makes his 2nd All-Star game appearance | 5:00pm ET

Record Prediction: 1-0, Pistons #1 seed in the East? Pshhh, Poeltl makes his return and dominates the Detroit front court, Barnes locks up Cade and the Raptors take the statement win.

That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Raptors Roundup, thank you for reading! Have a wonderful week!

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