Thursday’s NBA trade deadline came and went without too much noise from the Toronto Raptors, for better or worse. The team only made two small transactions, mostly working to duck the luxury tax and avoiding the big trades they had been attached to in recent weeks.

While the deal to send Ochai Agbaji to the Nets and bring Chris Paul to the Raptors (he won’t report, Bobby says he will be waived when the time is right) was finalized earlier, the second deal to bring in Trayce Jackson-Davis was cemented Thursday evening. While the Raptors played the second night of a back-to-back, welcoming the Chicago Bulls to town, Bobby Webster was busy behind the scenes on calls to finalize TJD’s trade.

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After a rough loss on Wednesday to the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a decades-long Toronto-based winning streak against the TWolves, Thursday was a little bit of a must-win. For pride, mostly. Yet, there was a little bit of anticipation hanging in the air, as fans waited for the Raptors’ trades to become official, more so because that meant GM Bobby Webster could finally speak to the media. The trade went official during the fourth quarter.

The Raptors ended up winning over the Bulls, improving to 31-22 on the season, 123-107.

After the game, Darko Rajakovic and Bobby Webster answered questions about the trade deadline, their new players, and everything that has been going on behind the scenes over the past few weeks. While Rajakovic hadn’t had time to go too deep into research on his newest player, Jackson-Davis, he did say that he liked the fact that they have the same birthday. He also mentioned earlier in the night that Jakob Poeltl was “progressing well” and the hope is to have him back soon.

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Obviously, there were more questions for Webster after weeks of trade rumours and speculation. He mentioned they “had a lot of fun” leading up to the deadline, alluding to the fact that there were many, many various scenarios involving them out there. Webster has been candid about being a guy who loves to make an inquisitive call, and those calls were likely the source of a lot of the rumours circulating out there. Here are some highlights from what Bobby had to say:

He mentioned that he thinks fans need to have a little bit of patience regarding this current team, especially given the expectations for the year. The front office is keen on seeing how they perform in the postseason together before making any huge decisions about the future. That’s why they weren’t too quick to make any huge trades right now.

Said that the prices out there for other bigs (ie 7-footers) were too high for them at the moment. There are speculations that many of these teams wanted 1st-round picks for their backup big men, something Webster did not want to part with.

Said that they will waive Chris Paul when the time is right, and as Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweeted this evening, it may be in a few weeks to help with some other paperwork. Webster mentioned his respect for the veteran and wanted to make sure they were being as professional as possible in the process.

When asked about the rumours surrounding RJ Barrett, said that they were basically just rumours. Re-emphasized wanting to see this core healthy and in the playoffs before making a big change. Also said guys like Barrett and even Poeltl know not to believe anything until it comes from them.

Overall, Bobby made ME feel super smart. Everything I wrote last night after the Minnesota game was essentially Webster’s messaging tonight. Emphasis on not rushing the process, needing to see this core have a full season of playing together, being patient. That’s literally what I was saying.

So, we end another trade deadline season (thankfully). A particularly quiet one from Toronto, but quantity is not always better. Time to lock in, get healthier, and see what the rest of this season holds. Toronto was literally a tanking lottery team one year ago, and now it’s time to make a playoff push. Pretty impressive, in my opinion. Which we can now assume is also Bobby’s opinion.

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The Raptors have a few days off now before they host the Indiana Pacers on Super Bowl Sunday, and then the Detroit Pistons next Wednesday before having eight days off for the All-Star Break. Hopefully, in this stretch, Jakob Poeltl can get back to full strength, RJ Barrett’s knee can rest up, and the rest of the team can continue to build.