It’s vacation time for most NBA players, a month before training camp, and it’s as quiet as it gets all year.
Except for Isaac Okoro who remains a restricted free agent For the Cleveland Cavaliers, nearly all of the top free agents have been signed and the Toronto Raptors appear set to take their current group into the season as is. There’s not a lot of news to report, but as always, fans have been filling my Instagram mailbag with a ton of questions. If you have a question for a future mailbag, follow me on Instagram @aaronbenrose and message me directly with a question or reply to one of my mail stories.
Without further ado:
Do you think it was the right decision to leave Gary Trent Jr. – @masiahcorridon
I think both sides misread the deal for Gary Trent Jr. this summer. Trent at a minimum contract is a safe bet for the Milwaukee Bucks and theoretically, that would have been the case for Toronto as well, although I doubt he would have re-signed with the Raptors for the veteran minimum.
Ideally, Toronto would have traded Trent for something at the trade deadline last year or the year before. I doubt the offers would have been very significant, but even a second-round pick or two is better than nothing. That said, moving on from Trent opens up more opportunities for Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter at virtually the same position, and for the long-term health of the organization, that’s a good thing.
A reporter posted online that the Raptors could potentially trade Zach LaVine for Kelly Olynyk and Bruce Brown – @rencin777
From what I understand, the Bulls are willing to pay to get rid of Zach LaVine’s contract and while that kind of offer wouldn’t be much for Toronto to give up, it’s the size and length of LaVine’s contract that makes his trade value so unattractive.
LaVine can certainly score when healthy, but he doesn’t offer much else and the size of his contract with three more years at $138 million would be a deal breaker for me.
With all this talk of “tanks,” are you worried about finding yourself in long stretches of losing seasons? – @demystifyingpaul
Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll win the lottery or make the right choice with your top picks. The Detroit Pistons learned that lesson all too well. However, we’ve seen plenty of instances where a brief tank turned a franchise around pretty quickly. The Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back quickly, and I think the San Antonio Spurs are pretty excited about where they’re headed.
There is no plan that is guaranteed to work, but picks higher in the lottery are more likely to succeed than picks later in the lottery, and more talent usually leads to more wins. Considering how good this 2025 draft is supposed to be, an extra year of downside seems like a pretty good idea to me.
What role will Gradey Dick play this season? – @tgoncalo7
If I had to bet on it, I would say Dick will probably be Toronto’s starting rearguard next season. It’s not a certainty and there are other options, as I wrote on MondayRegardless of when he sees the court, Dick will be a player who moves off the ball, moves on the floor, and shoots three-pointers. He looked impressive in the second half of the season in that role and there is hope that he takes the next step as a more bulky three-point shooter.
Where do you see the Raptors in 5 years? – @dthiru9
It’s hard to say. I imagine most of the players on this team will be very different. Scottie Barnes should be there and maybe one or two other current players, but over a five-year horizon, most things change in the NBA.
I could imagine a scenario where Toronto is back among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. That would involve Barnes taking another step forward, Immanuel Quickley proving he’s a top-tier point guard, and Toronto adding another All-Star caliber player to the rotation. It’s possible RJ Barrett emerges as that kind of player.
Conversely, there is a scenario where this rebuild doesn’t work. It’s possible that Barnes peaks as a low-level All-Star whose chances never quite pan out, Quickley proves to be a capable but not difference-making playmaker, and Toronto never finds that extra impact player. I’m not saying that will happen, but we haven’t seen enough from this group to be certain that it won’t.
Could Davion Mitchell start in the starting position? Off-ball IQ, more defense to take the pressure off Scottie Barnes? – @yohan.dabir
I think we’ll see lineups like this next year, but I doubt we’ll see a starting lineup with Davion Mitchell and Quickley on the court together. It would be a very depleted starting lineup without enough shooting. Given that Mitchell was out of Sacramento’s rotation at times last year, he still has a long way to go before he starts for Toronto this year.
RJ All-Star ? 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists ? – @kingfisherfitnessnz
Barrett averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 32 games with Toronto last season. He also shot 39.2 percent from three-point range, a bit of an outlier for Barrett’s career. I’m very curious to see if the Barrett we saw in the second half of last season is really the Barrett we’ll see in the future or if this is just a hot streak for a typically inconsistent player.
As for the first part of your question, it would take a huge leap for the Raptors to have two players on the All-Star team this year. Unless Barrett overtakes Barnes as the team’s leader, I don’t see Toronto having two players in the All-Star game.
