At the NBA trade deadline this year, the Toronto Raptors were very close to dealing long-time point guard Kyle Lowry, but they ended up keeping Lowry and instead trading Norman Powell. Ultimately the Raptors were big losers at the deadline because they traded a breakout star in Powell for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood and they kept Lowry, who is now out with a foot/toe injury.
Powell was having a fantastic season with the Raptors before being traded and was having a fantastic season. Lowry is having a down year and is nearing the end of his career, which is why they made a really bad move keeping him instead of Powell.
They are going to face some challenges financially this offseason, which is likely why they made the move to trade Norman Powell, since they knew they could not afford to keep him, but still, they did not get a ton of value in return for him and they risk losing Lowry in the offseason anyways since he is in the final year of his contract. These circumstances will be all the more reason to focus on the Raptors in NBA trade rumors this offseason.
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After just winning their first championship in franchise history in 2019, the Raptors make be taking a major step back and be forced to rebuild their roster a little bit in the offseason. Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby are the three core guys for the Raptors moving forward now, but Siakam could potentially be a guy the Raptors gauge interest on in the offseason.
The 26-year-old forward is owed $106.3M over the course of the next three seasons and if the Raptors are truly looking to “start over” with Fred VanVleet running this team, there is an outside possibility that Toronto could look to trade Siakam in the offseason.
It is highly unlikely but let’s take a look at a hypothetical offseason trade presented by Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz that would send Pascal Siakam and another young talent to the Golden State Warriors… yes the Warriors! It will be an eventful offseason full of many NBA trade rumors. Will this become one of them?
