O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, & Gary Trent Jr. Stay Put with Raptors

The Toronto Raptors will keep Fred VanVleet, O.G. Anunoby, and Gary Trent Jr. as they opt to keep the core together at the trade deadline

Aaron Rose | Feb 9, 2023

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Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are staying put.

All the talk surrounding the organization heading into Thursday's trade deadline was for naught. Toronto made one move early Thursday morning, acquiring Jakob Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs for Khem Birch and multiple draft picks, and that was it. O.G. Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., and Fred VanVleet will all remain with the team through the end of the season.

The Raptors never turned out to be sellers, adding Spurs center Jakob Poeltl on deadline day. They'll have to make some harder decisions in the offseason, but Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster tested and learned more about the value of several players.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023

Toronto will now face a luxury tax crunch this season with Poeltl, VanVleet, and Trent all expected to head into unrestricted free agency. How they'll navigate that with Anunoby and Pascal Siakam hitting the open market the following season isn't going to be easy. Poeltl, VanVleet, and Trent are expected to command around $70 million next season combined, a number that would put Toronto well into the luxury tax if re-signed.

The Raptors will now look toward a post-season push, having already moved into the play-in picture with Wednesday's victory over the Spurs. Now, with the center spot taken care of and a little more depth to fill out the roster, Toronto looks poised to take a run at a playoff berth, just a game and a half back of the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

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