Raptors Rumors

3. Who are the Raptors’ other trade candidates?

The Raptors have made it clear that they’d be willing to discuss any player on their roster and are even said to be exploring the market for a lottery pick, so no one is untouchable. Having said that, there are a handful of players that Toronto will be reluctant to move. OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, for instance, look like long-term building blocks at the three and four, respectively. The Raptors would certainly prefer to trade the higher-priced veterans at those positions, like Serge Ibaka ($21.67MM) and C.J. Miles ($8.33MM), allowing the youngsters to take on larger roles.

The same could be said at center, where Jakob Poeltl often earned key minutes over Jonas Valanciunas ($16.54MM). However, Nurse is fond of Valanciunas and may like to see the club keep him around.

Toronto’s most obvious trade candidate is Norman Powell, who signed a four-year extension with the club last fall. At the time, locking up the young swingman – who had provided a spark in the playoffs and showed three-and-D potential – seemed like the savvy move. After a disappointing 2017/18 campaign, that four-year, $42MM investment looks like a misstep.

Still, Powell is young enough to bounce back, and there should be teams around the NBA willing to buy low on a high-energy wing who shot 35.1% on three-pointers prior to last season. Powell has a $1.47MM cap hit until June 30, so a team that wants to roll the dice on him could move quickly to avoid having to match his $9MM+ salary for 2018/19.

4. Will Fred VanVleet remain with the Raptors?

An undrafted rookie two years ago, VanVleet enjoyed a breakout season in 2017/18. He was the unofficial captain of the Raptors’ vaunted second unit, thriving against opposing teams’ benches and earning regular minutes in the club’s crunch-time lineups alongside Lowry and DeRozan.

VanVleet will be a restricted free agent this summer and GM Bobby Webster has said the team’s “highest priority” this offseason will be re-signing the young point guard. Negotiating with VanVleet directly would be preferable to waiting on an offer sheet, since the Arenas provision would allow a rival team to include a massive third-year raise in its offer, like the Nets did with Tyler Johnson in 2016 — Johnson’s cap hit will rise from $5.88MM to $19.25MM this summer as a result of that deal.

With Early Bird rights on VanVleet, the Raptors could offer a four-year deal worth up to about $9MM annually. That may seem like an overpay for someone whose NBA résumé is so limited, but it’s less than a third of what Lowry will earn per year, and VanVleet’s abilities as a defender and three-pointer shooter aren’t as far behind Lowry’s as you’d think.

5. Is Raptors ownership ready to pay the tax?

With Powell’s new extension about to kick in, the Raptors have a 2018/19 team salary of $126MM+ for just 11 players. That figure projects to cross the luxury tax line and doesn’t include a new deal for VanVleet.

Team ownership would likely be willing to foot a luxury tax bill for a title contender, but after a second consecutive second-round playoff exit, Toronto can’t afford to just run things back with the same group. Still, after giving up their 2018 first-round pick to dump DeMarre Carroll‘s contract last summer, the Raps also don’t want to make a habit of attaching good assets to bad contracts just to cut costs.

It’s a tough call for the franchise and one that ownership will be involved in. If the Raptors re-sign VanVleet, it would be hard to avoid becoming a taxpayer, but I’d expect the team to be a little more aggressive in that scenario in its attempts to move a contract or two. It’s also worth noting that Toronto could enter the season above the tax line and still make an effort to avoid the tax later in the year by making a mid-season trade or two.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Raptors financially:

Guaranteed Salary

• Kyle Lowry ($31,000,000)
• DeMar DeRozan ($27,739,975)
• Serge Ibaka ($21,666,667)
• Jonas Valanciunas ($16,539,326)
• Norman Powell ($9,367,200)
• C.J. Miles ($8,333,333)
• Jakob Poeltl ($2,947,320)
• Delon Wright ($2,536,898)
• OG Anunoby ($1,952,760)
• Malachi Richardson ($1,569,360)
• Pascal Siakam ($1,544,951)
• Justin Hamilton ($1,000,000) — Waived via stretch provision
• Total: $126,197,790
  

Player Options

• None

Team Options

• None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

• Alfonzo McKinnie ($1,378,242)¹
• Total: $1,378,242
  

Restricted Free Agents

• Lucas Nogueira ($4,140,964 qualifying offer / $8,841,915 cap hold): Bird rights
• Nando De Colo ($1,828,750 qualifying offer / $1,901,900 cap hold): Early Bird rights
• Fred VanVleet ($1,699,698 qualifying offer / $1,699,698 cap hold): Early Bird rights
• Total: $12,443,513

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

• Lorenzo Brown ($1,499,698): Non-Bird rights
• Jason Thompson ($1,499,698): Non-Bird rights
• Total: $2,999,396
  

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Projected Cap Room: None

• The Raptors have more than $126MM in guaranteed salaries on their books before even accounting for a raise for VanVleet. They won’t have cap space available.

Footnotes:

1. McKinnie’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 20.

Note: Rookie scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.