Toronto Raptors open to trading key starters and top draft pick: report
The Toronto Raptors just might be cooking up something special ahead of this month’s NBA Draft.
The NBA Draft is set for June 25 and 26 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with the Raptors having a top-10 pick for the 15th time in franchise history.
Toronto holds the ninth overall and the 39th overall picks in this year’s draft, and is weighing its options for who it’ll draft.
However, NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote in a post on Monday via The Stein Line Substack, alongside fellow insider Marc Stein, that teams around the league are considering the Raptors as a possible trade partner at the top end of the draft.
“The Raptors’ No. 9 pick is also increasingly viewed as perhaps the most likely top-10 pick in the draft to be traded,” Fischer wrote. “My sense is that Toronto would prefer to simply trade down rather than trade out of the first round completely. Perhaps there is some swap potential in a deal with Phoenix and the Suns’ No. 29 overall selection.”
The Raptors last picked in the top 10 of the draft in 2021, when they landed future All-Star and 2022 NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes at fourth overall out of Florida State. While Barnes has since become the cornerstone of the franchise, many of his teammates don’t appear to be untouchable.
Fischer also reported that the Raptors could be open to moving any of Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, and RJ Barrett in a possible trade, should there be a big return like beleaguered Phoenix superstar Kevin Durant on the other end.
With the Raptors not likely to be landing any big names in free agency — and having already acquired one-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in a blockbuster trade earlier this year, perhaps Toronto’s front office will be looking to land yet another big fish.