Title: Raptors trade deadline primer: Rules, assets, future outlook and more
Date: February 2, 2026
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I dropped my annual trade deadline primer, laying out everything fans need to know as far as rules, assets, and so on are concerned.
A year ago, the Toronto Raptors were structured as a perfect trade machine team, with salaries of all types, space under the luxury tax, extra picks, expiring contracts, and more. They’re not quite as fun a hypothetical actor this time around.
That doesn’t mean they’ll be quiet. In fact, given their proximity to the tax line, this is about as confident as I’ve ever been that we’ll see them make some move. It just may not be a sexy one.
Or maybe it will be. With current superstars and recent stars with dents to their value abound (even if most of them are injured), and in the first year officially under the autonomous guidance of general manager Bobby Webster, anything could be on the table. The NBA’s magic is that a franchise superstar can be dealt overnight, the whispers prior failing to break through into the circle-pit of deadline noise.
What follows is an explanation of the different tools the Raptors have available to them, the CBA rules regarding trades, and other areas for clarification that people tend to ask about.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 