The Toronto Raptors appear to be at a crossroads with their roster and that is manifesting itself with their continued search for a new head coach. The Raptors appear to be considering whether they should attempt to be competitive immediately by keeping their roster together, or if it would make sense to trade away some of their pieces to rebuild around Scottie Barnes.
Fred VanVleet is an unrestricted free agent, while OG Anunoby has been one of the NBA's most popular trade candidates over the past two transaction cycles as he enters the final season of his contract.
"So I think you have a fascinating situation happening in Toronto right now," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "And the reason it is fascinating is in talking to folks that have been in touch with the Raptors recently, the Raptors don't seem to know which direction they're going to take. Whether or not they are going to focus on re-signing Fred VanVleet, extending Pascal Siakam, potentially making other roster upgrades. Or whether or not they're going to send Fred VanVleet in a sign-and-trade, maybe investigate moving other players be it OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam."
The Raptors also had a similar dilemma at the trade deadline, but stayed pat with their core while adding Jakob Poeltl.
"I think they're kind of back there," said Windhorst.
"They've been in this holding pattern for a while, basically," replied Tim MacMahon.
"They've interviewed a bunch of different coaches and it's not clear which way they're going to go. They probably have to make a decision about whether or not they're going to keep these guys together and that is going to influence the kind of coach you hire."
