Should the Raptors be making trades?

"Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the Raptors' loss, death, massacre was that they spent an entire first quarter going punch for punch. Winning on the scorecard. They absorbed an explosion from Jalen Brunson, spat out some blood, said, 'is that the best you've got?' and delivered an uppercut via Brandon Ingram. Oh, you've got a nuclear bomb? We've got one of those too."

"Toronto's offence requires remarkable focus and intent. Cuts are precisely timed, angled, paced. And there are many of them. Screens have to come at just the right moment. Players have to push pace, always, even after opposing makes. For a quarter, that was all there. Barnes pushed after a make, received a screen from Ochai Agbaji, and then threw a no-look rocket to Agbaji as he slipped the screen. And-1. Ingram hit his pull-ups as well as drove for layups."

"Then Brunson comes back into the game and piles on. Poeltl forgets how to play basketball in addition to his bad back, and Barnes stops playing downhill and starts throwing wayward jumpers at the rim. The intentionality goes as the team starts sending two cutters through the same window, or none at all, or multiple screeners to the same side of the ball. Toronto's offence requires Swiss-watch precision, and instead the Raptors give it Kmart chucklefuckery."

The Raptors matched the Knicks in a precise, high-intensity first quarter, trading baskets and executing coordinated cuts, screens, and pace. Key contributors pushed the attack, converted pull-ups and layups, and battled for offensive rebounds. The bench typically helps the team expand leads, but substitution changes coincided with missed open shots and diminished creation. Defensive effort and rebounding declined, enabling Jalen Brunson to swing momentum upon his return. Jakob Poeltl struggled physically, and scoring aggression waned as miscommunication and duplicated actions replaced previously exact timing. The collective loss of intentionality surrendered control and led to a decisive collapse.

Read at Raptors Republic