At the trade deadline in February there were similar questions about which path the team would take: Sell off some of its in-demand top-end talent and try to get better odds at phenom Victor Wembanyama, or push toward the playoffs. Ultimately the Raptors held on to Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby, as well as its upcoming free agents Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. and even added Jakob Poeltl, another player who enters free agency this summer.
There’s been chatter that Portland, owners of the No. 3 pick next week, might deal it for someone like Siakam in order to keep star guard Damian Lillard happy, but it’s also possible the Blazers decide to move Lillard, keep the pick and go with a youth movement, which would include Canadian high-flyer Shaedon Sharpe, the seventh pick of last year’s draft.Article content
Still, Raptors management has resisted retooling in the past and the NBA is in an unusual period of parity, with five different franchises winning the title the last five years and with no team reaching 60 wins for the first time in over two decades. Miami just made the NBA Finals as a play-in team, which the Raptors also were.