Toronto Raptors Must Make an Offseason Deal to Contend in 2027

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Toronto Raptors are in a battle to end their three-year playoff absence. They sit as the sixth seed with a record of 43-35, while they are just half a game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, and Charlotte Hornets, who are all in a tie for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. 

If Toronto is able to avoid the Play-In, or even advance through it to the playoffs, it’s rather unlikely that it’s able to make it to the second round. The Raptors are 1-9 against the top-three teams in the East this season and 2-21 overall against the top-10 teams in the NBA, outside of the pre-James Harden Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Whether the Raptors make the playoffs or not, it’s clear that this team is not slated to contend in the Eastern Conference for years to come, at least not as currently constructed. General manager Bobby Webster chose not to pull the trigger on a trade for a superstar at the deadline, as many anticipated, and now the team lies in mediocrity. 

While this is just the first year that this core is together, it seems the ceiling is rather low, given the consistent lack of offense, and specifically fourth-quarter offense. The Raptors don’t have a 27+ point-per-game scorer, and four 17-21 point-per-game scorers simply isn’t going to cut it against the league’s best. Not to mention, the starting five alone is making $156.5 million this season, with that number set to increase next season. To put that into perspective, the salary cap in 2025-26 is $154.6 million, so just a third of the Raptors’ team puts them over the cap. 

At the Feb. 5th trade deadline, the three players heavily linked to trades were Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl. The three have all missed significant periods of the season due to injuries (71 missed games combined), but their contributions are all vastly different. 

Quickley, a sixth-year point guard out of the University of Kentucky, has played the most of the three, but given the least consistent production. Known for his microwave scoring ability, he is averaging his lowest points per game since coming off the bench for the New York Knicks in 2023. He shows flashes of greatness, including the most efficient 40-point, 10-assist game in NBA history, but far too often, he is supplying empty minutes for a Raptors offense that desperately needs shot-creating. 

It’s worth mentioning that in his absence, two-time All-Star Scottie Barnes has fulfilled the team’s ball-handling and playmaking duties wonderfully. In the last eight games which Quickley has missed due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Barnes has averaged 10.6 assists per game, including six games in a row of 10+ assists (via StatMuse); this marked the second-longest stretch by a forward in NBA history behind only 22-time All-Star LeBron James. Barnes has struggled to score in this role, though, averaging 14.3 points per game and scoring under 15 points in five of the eight games. 

The point guard’s absence in the starting lineup has also allowed for the emergence of second-year shooting guard Ja’Kobe Walter, who has proven to be the team’s most reliable three-point shooter. In his last 13 games, he averaged 11.5 points in 25.4 minutes, but he has made 2.6 threes per game on 56.7% shooting; he leads the NBA in three-point percentage among players who have made 2+ threes per game in that stretch (via StatMuse). 

Poeltl may have been blessed by the lower back strain that kept him out for 24 straight games. Teams were afraid to trade for him because of the lingering issue, and he has proven to be effective for the Raptors since returning. In his last 14 games, the Austrian big man has averaged 13.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on 70.9% shooting (via StatMuse). 

While he was out, standout rookie Collin Murray-Boyles filled in as the team’s starting center. At 6-foot-7, 245 pounds, the undersized 20-year-old excelled on the defensive end, proving to be one of the most versatile defenders in the league for years to come. However, his offensive prowess was severely lacking, and the Raptors suffered because of it, showing the vastly different results in the starting lineup’s abilities with Poeltl or Murray-Boyles on the floor. 

Barrett was the most talked-about asset for the Raptors at the deadline, often being linked to the Sacramento Kings in a blockbuster deal that would send three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Toronto. While acquiring a superstar big man to pair next to Barnes and Brandon Ingram may be a needle-moving deal, Barrett has held up his end of the bargain since getting healthy. 

He played just six games over two months due to separate knee and ankle injuries, and struggled for a period after coming back. However, in his last 19 games, he has averaged 21.4 points per game on 53.3% shooting (via StatMuse), making him Toronto’s leading scorer in that stretch over two-time All-Star Ingram (via StatMuse). 

As Walter and Murray-Boyles continue to grow, it’s essential that the Raptors prioritize them in the team’s future aspirations, especially while they are still on rookie contracts. This may result in the departure of one of the three aforementioned starters, but some sort of move must be made to get the franchise back to championship basketball. Barnes is the franchise cornerstone, and Ingram was just acquired last season, so it’s up to Webster to build suitable depth around those two, if they want to win a playoff series in a growing Eastern Conference any time soon.