Sports teams always need to think about what comes next, beyond the current season. As for the Raptors, here’s the Toronto Star:
A first-round playoff elimination for the second successive season is likely going to mean a lot of roster churn in the summer of 2023. That’s not pressure, that’s just expectations from the top; they set a high bar because mediocrity is not acceptable and while Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster are patient, they’re not that patient. They may never say it out loud but, privately, the second round in the standard.
They’re too good to go entirely in the tank for France’s teen phenom Victor Wembanyama — get that out of your heads right now — but a first-round failure is going to force some moves come summertime.
The second thing is this: They are going to give this team 20 or 25 or so games to find out what it is; no panic trades, no bold moves, no major rotation switches.
But, as one top official said, they might have all kinds of options to play with at February’s trade deadline. Big contracts, small contracts, young players, established players.
Might be an explosive time and team officials are already thinking about it.
