Will the Toronto Raptors trade away No. 9 pick in 2025 NBA Draft?

With the 2025 NBA Draft a little over a month away, the Toronto Raptors are well underway in figuring out a bit more of what their future looks like.

This week, they’ve already met with multiple draft prospects in Chicago at the NBA Combine, while finding out via Monday’s lottery that they’ll be picking at ninth overall come June.

The Raptors have several options for who to take with the No. 9 selection. Historically, they’ve landed Tracy McGrady, DeMar DeRozan, and Jakob Poeltl at that same ninth position, showing that there’s talent to be found even a little bit later in the draft.

But what if Toronto opts to trade the pick, either to move up a few spots or trading the pick away to land multiple assets?

The Raptors’ case for moving up

Last year, the Raptors were picking at 19th and 31st overall, before eventually ending up with Ja’Kobe Walter and Jonathan Mogbo, who suited up for 52 and 63 games in their rookie seasons, respectively. But Toronto also came away with a bit of added capital after the two-night affair, adding in Jamal Shead and Ulrich Chomche as part of a four-team trade.

Add in undrafted rookie Jamison Battle, and Toronto had five new players coming into the mix last season, though Chomche played in just seven games before a season-ending knee injury in February.

The main issue for the Raptors — they’re running out of spots to develop players while also trying to win games at the same time. Eight of their 10 highest minutes played totals for last season came with players under 25.

One could reasonably expect they’ll skew a little bit older this season, partially by nature of players aging and the unlikelihood of Toronto picking five young assets once again.

But what if Toronto was able to package a few of those young players together with the ninth pick, with the intent of sneaking up a few spots in the draft order?

Would Philadelphia be a target at third overall, given the fact that the 76ers’ season was derailed more by poor injury luck than anything else?

For a team that seems to have an abundance of young players, perhaps Toronto could consolidate a few of those assets and go for a swing-for-the-fences pick higher up in the draft?

The Raptors’ case for trading back

If Toronto opts not to move up in the draft (or tries to and is unable to find the right deal), the other option for trading the pick would likely involve trading back later in the first round.

Toronto could, of course, move the pick solely for a package based around another player, but that would seem unlikely given the rarity of trades of that nature in the NBA this close to the draft.

Landing either two or more picks or a collection of young players might help the Raptors accelerate their rebuild, while also perhaps forcing their hand on a couple of tough decisions on who on the current roster they want to keep around, with the possibility of a core roster player departing in a trade this summer.

Three teams carry the biggest asset haul of any teams in the draft: the Brooklyn Nets hold five picks in the draft at Nos. 8, 19, 26, 27, and 36 overall, the Orlando Magic hold four at Nos. 16, 25, 46, and 57, and the Utah Jazz hold Nos. 5, 21, 43, and 53.

If Toronto’s looking to get two more first-round talents into their system, perhaps a trade with the Magic would be the best fit possible.

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