Explaining How the December 15 Trade Restrictions Impact the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors can now trade Khem Birch and Isaac Bonga, but the December 15 trade changes won't impact the organization very much

Aaron Rose | Dec 15, 2021

Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

The unofficial start of NBA trade season has officially arrived. As of December 15, most players signed this past offseason are eligible to be dealt and trade talks can really begin to escalate.

What does it mean for the Toronto Raptors? Well, not much.

The Raptors only have three recently signed players on their roster: Gary Trent Jr., Khem Birch, and Isaac Bonga, and Trent’s situation is a little different from the other two because he was signed using Bird rights and therefore he can’t be traded until January 15. Ultimately, the change is pretty negligible for Toronto who can now trade Birch, who is injured, and Bonga, who is out of the rotation, should the opportunity present itself.

That being said, there are now more than 110 players throughout the league who are eligible to be traded that were previously restricted from being moved, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. So while it may not make a significant impact on Toronto’s roster, it does free up the Raptors front office to pursue more players or make more complex trades in which multiple players are acquired in a deal. Say, for example, the Raptors wanted to acquire Jusuf Nurkic from the Portland Trail Blazers — a plausible though unlikely idea — Toronto could add Tony Snell, Cody Zeller, or Dennis Smith Jr. to the deal who were previously unable to be moved.

The Raptors are still unlikely to make any significant moves this early into the season before they’ve really had any time to analyze their roster, but talks are certainly expected to heat up with restrictions lifted and more players eligible to be dealt.

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