January has been a wild month for the Toronto Raptors, and it seems like the changes are only just beginning.
After dealing away OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa to the New York Knicks for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, all focus immediately turned to Pascal Siakam — perpetually the subject of trade speculation as a pending free agent.
Now that the Siakam deal is done and the Raptors are looking ahead to a new era, president Masai Ujiri seems unafraid to dive head first into reworking this mushy-middle roster ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
“Definitely,” Ujiri said, when asked Thursday during a media conference if he’s planning to make more trades in the coming weeks. “That’s why we have created the flexibility. The next few weeks, there are all these windows, whether it’s now or the draft, whether it’s free agency. That’s why we’ve created flexibility — to make this team grow.”
Rather than receiving players in return for two-time All-Star Siakam, the bulk of the Raptors’ return was draft picks, going from zero in 2024 to three, a new advantage that Ujiri believes can help the team in a plethora of ways.
“We have to look at it [draft picks], honestly, as flexibility,” Ujiri said. “You don’t have to pick them. You can trade them, there are many things you can do, and that’s how I’m thinking.”
Though the 2024 NBA Draft is widely predicted to be lacking in high-end talent, Ujiri is poised to use the Raptors’ newfound draft capital as leverage during the late-June window and noted that, historically, there have been players who have been made available in that window.
Accumulating first-round picks they didn’t have before gives Ujiri and the Raptors the ability to assess what may be available and use their assets to their advantage.
Ujiri stressed that while dealing franchise cornerstones Anunoby and Siakam was tough, the young players and roster flexibility received in return is the priority as the Raptors look to build out a new era around Scottie Barnes.
Though the championship era is in the rearview, Ujiri remains excited about the future of basketball in Toronto.
“We want to win in Toronto,” he said, “and we are going to win in Toronto.”
