Projected Win-total: +/- 36 wins (Under 36 / Expected win loss: 24-27 wins - 57-54 losses)

A lot of things to mention for this season especially with the Raptors finally committing to a direction after going through 1 and a half painful seasons of mediocrity. Did they hold on too long with their core pieces in Fred, OG, and siakam? Absolutely! Could they have gotten a better return for their players in the last trade deadline? Most probably! I would say Fred leaving in the off-season for nothing was the final push the Raptors front office needed to blow things up. It was a wake up call needed to set the franchise in a better direction.

There are still question marks such as what the role of the older Jakob is on this team. He signed that $80 M extension expecting to win a lot of games in a playoff team but the Raptors are far from that. Could there be a chance he gets moved in the deadline? I think that might be a possible issue the Raptors will have to deal with. There's also the fact of Gary Trent Jr. entering free agency which would seem like he is going to get a big 2-year deal with the Raptors or there is the possibility that they are ok with letting him walk in free agency just to clear cap. There is also Bruce Brown's contract and he still holds value as a final piece for a contender.

I think going forward, Raptors fans should be looking to the draft with potential picks 6, 17, 31 to kickstart this rebuild around IQ, Barnes, and Barrett as the core pieces. If the Raptors do keep their own pick (projected at 6) this year, my personal draft board (From most important to least) would consist of Sarr, Buzelis, Risacher, Topic, Sheppard, and Holland. With their projected 17th and 31st pick, names I like to be taken if available are Castle, Ja'Kobe Walter, Collier, Kel'el Ware, Tyler smith, Zach Edey, and Tristan Da Silva.

There's also the development of Gradey Dick who looks to be a promising rookie that has been slowly trending upwards but his ceiling is still somewhat of a question mark. Overall this is a season to forget!

Untouchables

Scottie Barnes

Tradeable Assets

Jakob Poeltl (3 years), Bruce Brown (TO - 1 year)

Personal Trade Targets

Herbert Jones (Unlikely, on a great contract)

Cade Cunningham (unlikely)

Brandon Ingram (Trey Murphy better investment for NOP?)

Andrew Nembhard

Isaiah Joe

Jalen Suggs

Nassir Little

Anthony Black

Free Agency Targets

Lebron James (Would be funny)

Nicolas Claxton (Would move on from Jakob if this happens)

Gary Trent Jr. (Would be nice to resign him)

DeMar DeRozan (Probably not)

Kyle Lowry (Reunite Lowry and Deebo?)

Will update and add more