NBA teams are "worn out" from dealing with Raptors' front office: report

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are in the midst of one of their most pivotal offseasons in recent memory.

With the NBA Draft coming on Thursday, veteran guard Fred VanVleet officially opting out of his contract last week, and no shortage of rumoured offers for players like Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby, Toronto is expected to be active over the next few weeks as they look to reshape their franchise.

But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to pull the trigger on just any trade offer that comes their way.

According to NBA insider Matt Moore, the Raptors’ front office of general manager Bobby Webster and president Masai Ujiri haven’t exactly shaken their long-standing reputation as a group that is tough to make trades with.

“It’s fair to say front offices are pretty worn out on the attempts by Toronto to get ‘blood from a stone’ as one executive put it at the deadline in any deal,” Moore wrote in an article for Action Network on Sunday. “Multiple sources have described the Raptors as frustrating to deal with. So why keep calling? ‘There are only 29 teams to work with.'”

Toronto went 41-41 last season and missed the playoffs, leading to the firing of longtime head coach Nick Nurse and a host of rumours about nearly every single one of their core players.

With expectations that they’d be one of the league’s preeminent sellers this past spring, Toronto opted instead to trade for veteran centre Jakob Poeltl, a piece they’re looking to re-sign on a new contract over the next few weeks.

“Just naturally, patience is our thing,” Ujiri said at his press conference following the trade deadline earlier this year. “Hopefully, we can have a little bit of patience.”

Nurse was officially replaced last week by first-time head coach Darko Rajakovic, and it’s not quite clear whether Toronto wants to lean into a “retool” or a full tear-it-down rebuild this summer. In all likelihood, the team’s direction could be player-driven, with Toronto still waiting to see if Gary Trent Jr. picks up his player option, while VanVleet is still a candidate to return on a new deal after declining his own option.

“There is a growing sense among executives who have called the Raptors (albeit with some caution) that Pascal Siakam may be easier to deal with than Anunoby currently,” Moore added. “One savvy executive did mention that he felt that was a means to judge market value if and when the Raptors do decide to trade Anunoby. ”

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