NBA Rumors: Raptors' Scottie Barnes 'Untouchable in Any Trade Conversations'

The Toronto Raptors continue to make Scottie Barnes off limits in any trade negotiations, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Charania reported Monday the Raptors consider the young star to be "untouchable" with teams around the NBA increasingly believing Toronto will move Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby before the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

The Raptors have continued to resist a full rebuild, but it's something that's increasingly harder to avoid, especially if the front office isn't willing to entertain trade proposals involving Barnes.

Toronto is 9-13 and 11th in the Eastern Conference. While only a half-game separates the Raptors from the Atlanta Hawks for the final play-in tournament berth, pushing for the ninth or 10th seed would only perpetuate what is becoming a cycle of mediocrity.

The Raptors have been swimming upstream ever since Kawhi Leonard left as a free agent in 2019. Without a similarly capable star, they've chased dwindling postseason returns, getting to the conference semifinals in 2020 before missing the playoffs altogether in two of the next three years.

That Siakam and Anunoby are eligible for free agency in the offseason only heightens the sense it's time to start over. Both are very good players, but neither is clearly capable of single-handedly lifting Toronto to a top-four seed.

If team president Masai Ujiri remains determined to contend, then trading Barnes is basically the only move along with retaining Siakam and/or Anunoby. The 22-year-old is averaging 19.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.7 steals. He's also shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc, up significantly from a 29.0 percent clip across his first two years.

Barnes is a valuable enough asset to where Toronto would probably land a major star in a deal where he's the centerpiece.

Keeping Barnes and building around him makes obvious sense for the Raptors as well, but that requires Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster to wave the white flag.