{"id":123505,"date":"2025-02-12T21:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T02:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=123505"},"modified":"2025-02-12T21:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T02:12:07","slug":"raptors-ready-leave-rebuild-process-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/12\/raptors-ready-leave-rebuild-process-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors Ready To Leave Rebuild Process Behind"},"content":{"rendered":"

After agreeing to a\u00a0three-year contract extension<\/a>\u00a0with star forward\u00a0Brandon Ingram<\/a>, the Toronto Raptors are ready to take the next step forward in their rebuild. In fact, next season they don\u2019t even want to be in rebuild mode. According to The Stein Line insider Jake Fischer, the Canada-based NBA franchise \u201cwant to compete starting next year<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raptors Ready To Leave Rebuild Process Behind<\/h2>\n

Interestingly, The Stein Line founder Marc Stein suggests that\u00a0RJ Barrett<\/a>\u00a0could be an\u00a0offseason trade candidate<\/a>\u00a0due to the presence of\u00a0Gradey Dick<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ja\u2019Kobe Walter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, his co-worker\u2019s report runs counter to that line of thinking. Dick and Walker, both wings, have flashed their potential. Nonetheless, they\u2019ve been nowhere near as effective as Barrett.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Barrett could very well be traded eventually. Marriages aren\u2019t immune to divorce, even loving ones. Yet, if the goal is to compete and to build around\u00a0Scottie Barnes<\/a>, moving one of their top players is counterintuitive.<\/p>\n

In fact, the only way trading Barrett makes sense is if it\u2019s to acquire a sharper three-point threat. With that being said, the Toronto native is now in a similar position\u00a0to the one he was in<\/a>\u00a0with the New York Knicks. That alone could have him re-considering his future with the franchise.<\/p>\n

Raptors Offseason Scenarios<\/h3>\n

Barrett\u2019s future will get even murkier if the Raptors land a high pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Toronto is currently projected to land the fifth overall pick. In that range, a prospect like Texas shooting guard\u00a0Tre Johnson<\/a>\u00a0projects to be a cleaner fit alongside Ingram and Barnes than either Barrett, Dick, or Walter.<\/p>\n

\n

Tre Johnson vs Alabama Last night..<\/p>\n

24 PTS (9-17 FG, 4-8 3PT)
\n4 AST
\n3 REBS<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the leading scoring in the SEC rn.. How his draft stock rn? Top 5?\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/59FCOpw34r<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision)\u00a0February 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 23 games, Johnson has averaged 19.3 points per game and made 38.6 percent of his threes.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, if the Raptors don\u2019t like the prospects where they\u2019re at, Barrett could indeed be trade bait. The New Orleans Pelicans, currently projected to land the No. 2 pick, could look to pair\u00a0Zion Williamson<\/a>\u00a0with his former college teammate. Nevertheless, if the Indiana Pacers make\u00a0Myles Turner<\/a>\u00a0available,\u00a0the best trade<\/a>\u00a0for Toronto involves their top pick and\u00a0Jakob Poeltl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Turner won\u2019t instantly cover all of the Raptors\u2019 holes. However, given their current core\u2019s core concerns, his ability to space the floor and protect the rim could be essential. The 28-year-old is a career 36.0 percent three-point shooter averaging 2.2 blocks per game.<\/p>\n

Whether Barrett or Poeltl is on the roster in 2025-26 is up in the air.\u00a0Immanuel Quickley<\/a>\u2019s future with the franchise\u00a0may not be secure either<\/a>. He hasn\u2019t played poorly but he\u2019s largely performed below expectations since his arrival.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, if the Raptors are in position to draft Rutgers guard Dylan Harper<\/a>, it might be too difficult to pass that chance up.<\/p>\n

For starters, he\u2019s now being compared to James Harden<\/a>, an MVP winner. Furthermore, Toronto may be able to drastically reduce their future payroll. Not only does this make retaining players like Barrett (or Poeltl) more feasible, it could allow them to be buyers in strong free agent classes.<\/p>\n

1A, 1B<\/h3>\n

Barnes and Ingram are projected to be the Raptors\u2019 1A and 1B moving forward.<\/p>\n

In Barnes, Toronto has a dynamite point-forward who has taken steps forward as a scorer and defender. In Ingram, they have a playmaking forward who excels as a scorer and has defensive upside. Though imperfect, they can truly be one of the best league\u2019s top tandems.<\/p>\n

Of course, it takes more than a couple of studs to win consistently in the NBA. The Raptors need to improve beyond the arc and emphasize getting to the free-throw line. They need to be better event-creators at the defensive end, which could also help them get more fast break opportunities.<\/p>\n

However, Toronto will likely enter next season at a better starting point than they did in 2024-25, and more confidently too.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After agreeing to a\u00a0three-year contract extension\u00a0with star forward\u00a0Brandon Ingram, the Toronto Raptors are ready to take the next step forward in their rebuild. In fact, next season they don\u2019t even want to be in rebuild mode. According to The Stein Line insider Jake Fischer, the Canada-based NBA franchise \u201cwant to compete starting next year.\u201d Raptors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":123512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1608,11,62,556,4721],"tags":[308,49668,968,637,98,4557,4774,1964,3852,49827],"class_list":["post-123505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-basketball","category-pacers","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-trade-rumors","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-dylan-harper","tag-jakob-poeltl","tag-myles-turner","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-offseason","tag-rumors","tag-rj-barrett","tag-scottie-barnes","tag-tre-johnson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123513,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123505\/revisions\/123513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}