Do you hear that? It’s the sound of millions of Twitter users opening up trade machines.
It’s that time of year, folks. The trade deadline is less than a month away, and while there are bigger fish to fry in the NBA — Jimmy Butler and Zach LaVine, to name a few — the Raptors are expected to be at least moderately busy working around the edges.
I asked you all to send in your trade ideas to grade. But two notes here:
- There were a few of the same (or similar trades) so I just picked one and built off that.
- If your trade didn’t meet the CBA requirement (aka it was not legal), I just ignored it. Sorry, be a better fake GM next time!
So, what trades are possible? Let’s dig in.
Category #1: Bruce Brown Trades

Trade idea via Cheechers:
Who Says No? The Magic, probably
You don’t necessarily need to have the Magic in this deal. I’ve thought of a similar framework that would just have Kennard come to the Raptors, get bought out/waived, and be free to go elsewhere without the Magic involved. Raptors get Brandon Clarke for helping facilitate this deal, and I think he’d be a legitimate addition to a team that needs plus defenders in the frontcourt and could use his short-roll capabilities in their schemes. I like it.

Trade Idea via Trevor Norlander:
Who Says No? Raptors
If you’re taking on the long-term salaries of both Hachimura and Vincent, you’ll want more than just a middling second-round pick and Hood-Schifino coming back. The Raptors likely don’t do this deal without a first-round pick attached and multiple second-round picks, unless they really love Hachimura.
Trade Idea via YaBoyJoshee:

Who Says No? Pistons
Tim Hardaway Jr., at this point, is better and more important to what the Pistons do than what Brown can bring.

Trade via Big Nick:
Who Says No? Raptors
The original trade idea has a top-10 protection on the 2028 pick but Spotrac doesn’t have that ability yet. Still, giving up a future first-round pick that far away on a rebuilding team is terrible business, even if theres protections on it. It’s even worse when you consider they’d have to take on another year of Collins contract and only get Kessler (who isn’t all that special as a prospect) and move up a few spots in the 2025 draft.
ESFANDIAR’S TRADE:

It’s a similar framework to one of the trades suggested above but a little cleaner. The Grizzlies get Cam Johnson and Davion Mitchell to bolster their playoff rotation. The Raptors take on Konchar’s contract and Kennard’s expiring for two second-round picks and Brandon Clarke, who can help their frontcourt. Meanwhile, the Nets get even more expiring salary to work with this summer in Brown and two 1st round-picks for Johnson.
Category #2: Boucher or Olynyk Trades

Trade via Connor95:
Who Says No? Nuggets, probably
Adding in a couple of second-round picks from the Raptors side might sweeten the deal here, but I still think the Nuggets would rather keep DaRon and see how he looks next year before making any move involving him. Ultimately, this all depends on how much the Nuggets like a 32-year-old Boucher and how much they think his cutting, rim protection, and shooting can help them this season. But the Raptors would have to get compensated for taking on Nnaji’s deal, one of the league’s worst small contracts. There have been a few different iterations of this suggested, but this one seems the closest to me because the Raptors have recently prioritized players over picks.

Trade via DDonkey:
Who Says No? Clippers
The Clippers trade is interesting, although It seems unlikely that the Clippers would cough up assets and an expiring deal for Olynyk with another year left on his deal.

Trade via HKrazy:
Who Says No? No one
It’s a good and feasible deal. I like this and I think James Harden could bring the best out of Chris Boucher. Raptors can send PJ Tucker home and get Kobe Brown and a second-round pick for their troubles.

Trade via NBA Ced:
Who Says No? Grizzlies
The original trade suggested also included Jay Huff but since he’s not able to get traded until January 26th, Spotrac didn’t let me. Imagine he’s in it.
I really like this deal for the Raptors, but it’s probably a bit lopsided unless Memphis really likes Davion. I think the Grizzlies are more interested in taking a big swing this deadline and this deal isn’t that. But something similar could be achieved if the Raptors wanted to facilitate a deal between, say, the Nets and Grizzlies for Cameron Johnson.
ESFANDIAR’S TRADE:

The thought process here is the Raptors find a third team to take on Nnaji’s contract and reroute the 1st round pick (via Denver) to them. You can debate which one is better: taking a swing on Robert Williams (and getting a second-round pick out of it), or just taking Nnaji and the pick. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder there. I don’t love this deal, but something like this could work.
Category #3: Big Swings

Trade Via Raptors Shaq:
Who Says No? Raptors
It’s too early for the Raptors to have buyer’s remorse on the Quickley contract. He’s played nine games in an injury-riddled season, and I’d imagine they want to see how the chemistry gets ironed out between Barnes and him for the next couple of seasons before they move on. Besides, his flat salary structure actually makes his deal useful towards the end of the contract.

Trade via Munro Stewart:
Who Says No? After deliberation, Rockets
I really like this deal at its heart, but it’s way too much for the Rockets to give up to improve at the centre spot. If you take away the 1st round picks and just take on Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard, perhaps that changes my stance. But I think in general, the Rockets would hold off on making this type of move and keeping their powder dry for a bigger trade involving their younger guys later. But for the Raptors, this would be excellent and probably the type of returning value that would make them think twice about trading Poeltl.

Trade via CodyyGakpo:
Who Says No? Bulls, then Raptors
I think the hold-up in any LaVine for Porter Jr. swap was the fact that the Bulls were unwilling to take on Nnaji’s contract so it’s unlikely they’d do this deal either. The Raptors might consider this deal from their perspective, but I think they’d ultimately decline to add MPJ to their core because of his contract and what the implication could be for paying Dick, extending Poeltl, etc, moving forward.

Trade via Foil:
Who Says No? Raptors
Adding second-round picks onto Quickley to get Clarkson and Sexton? You’re either very high on Sexton or very low on Quickley. The Raptors won’t do this.

Trade Via Hayden:
Who Says No? The Grizzlies
Edey has been awesome in his rookie year. The Grizzlies probably think they have a younger, taller, and potentially better version of Poeltl already. They’ll pass on this.
ESFANDIAR’S TRADE:

Jabari Smith Jr. would like to get paid soon so you’d have to consider this, but he’s a really good buy-low option for the Raptors who could use his skill-set as a small-ball five who can shoot the rock. The price? The Indiana first. Truthfully, I think that is losing value by the day with the way the Pacers are playing and how aggressive they are in the trade market to make upgrades (hello Cam Johnson). The Raptors have never been shy to use picks and expiring salaries to try and add talent and this would be in line with that. Besides, Amen Thompson has been playing in such a way that Smith Jr. might have permanently lost his starting spot. This is a way for the Rockets to add to their asset cupboard, get an expiring salary (that gives them room to extend Fred VanVleet and eventually give a deal to Thompson) all while giving the Raptors another core player.
Conclusion:
Trades are hard. They’ve become even harder in this new CBA landscape with the first and second apron rules. I think that’s put the Raptors at a disadvantage to make an outright trade for some of their expiring players, but it’s not impossible. Between Brown, Boucher and Mitchell, the Raptors have nearly $40M in expiring salary to try and manuever with. They can get involved in 3-team deals to try and facilitate a bigger trade. They can take on bad contracts for future assets. Or they can use those expiring salaries to try and swing big.
The Raptors still have their options. And while they don’t have the flexibility to go out and be big players at the deadline, they have the opportunity to be advantageous in a tight market.
With just under one month left to go, we’ll see what happens.