No Moves by the Toronto Raptors at the Trade Deadline

The NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone and the Toronto Raptors did nothing. This is not necessarily a bad thing (or a good thing, in fact its mostly value neutral). The names thrown around before the deadline -- P.J. Tucker, Markieff Morris, Thaddeus Young -- remain resolutely apart from Toronto. The roster, as it is constructed now, will be the team we watch for the rest of the year.

I wasn't going to write this post because an absence of news doesn't require additional commentary. But I did anyway because we need somewhere to air our thoughts, compliments or, as is most likely, grievances. It was always going to be an awkward deadline day for the Raptors. The only Raptors player of considerable value (both on and off the court) plays in the position of the team's greatest need. The team is secure in its second seed (barring insane disaster) but could face all kinds of weird or scary matchups from that seventh seed. They have assets, but the players available (save maybe one) were probably not worth the expense (or too costly).

On the other hand, there are many who think a move -- any move -- would have represented an all-in gesture from management, signalling a desire to, if not win it all, then at least win as much as they could. As we saw last summer when the Blue Jays decided to trade for Troy Tulowitzki (under contract) and David Price (a high-priced rental), fun things happen when this becomes your team's mentality. (Though if they had lost in the first round...)

That's why, to me, the Hawks' Al Horford, who was probably never going to be dealt anyway, was the only real target the Raps should, could or would have gone after. The rest of the names tossed around and the players who did end up moving would have just been lateral moves to get the Raptors from point A to point almost B. It would not have been enough.

As it stands, the Raptors now maintain all of their assets going into the off-season -- the most significant being that NYK/DEN pick that could find itself in the top 10. They'll get DeMarre Carroll back (thoughts and prayers) for the stretch run. And they'll still be a solid team with a firmly established identity. Many franchises in the league should be so lucky.

What did you guys think of the day?