Report: Raptors Heading Toward a 'Breakup' With 'Significant' Changes Looming

The Toronto Raptors are reportedly heading toward a summer with significant changes and a breakup looming

All Raptors Staff | Apr 14, 2023

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

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Toronto Raptors

The whispers are only just beginning.

It’s only barely been 24 hours since the Toronto Raptors bowed out of the play-in tournament against the Chicago Bulls. In the NBA, though, 24 hours can be a very long time.

The chatter has already begun to pick up as Toronto heads into a summer with change on the horizon. As one source reportedly told Heavy Sports. “Everybody in the league knows that Toronto is going to be headling a breakup.”

What exactly that means remains unclear for the moment. Fred VanVleet, Jakob Poeltl, and Gary Trent Jr. are all heading into unrestricted free agency. Toronto is expected to bring back Poeltl and will likely re-sign at least one of the other two. After that, conversations will certainly be had about Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby, both of whom were mentioned as trade targets at the trade deadline.

“They’re going to get rid of some of their assets and just go in another direction,” a source told Heavy. “Who it is, I don’t know. But I know that (OG) Anunoby’s name comes up all the time. Interestingly enough, (Pascal) Siakam’s name is not as well regarded as you would have thought. The guy gets buckets. He can score. But it do think he and Gary Trent carry the same label. They can score, but I’m not sure they help you win.”

Siakam set career-highs with 24.2 points and 5.8 assists per game this season. He remains under contract through next season.

Anunoby, meanwhile, saw his points per game dip to 16.8 this year but his 67 games played were his most in three years. He also led the NBA in steals per game and is expected to be in consideration for an All-Defense team this season.

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