Report: Raptors avoid luxury tax with three-team deal for veteran guard Chris Paul

San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) celebrates a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

TORONTO — Head coach Darko Rajakovic named the elephant in the room during a team meeting with his Toronto Raptors.

“‘Listen, we’ve got to acknowledge the trade deadline is around the corner. I don’t have information about what’s going on. I don’t want to know what’s going on until something goes down or doesn’t go down.’” Rajakovic told reporters at practice Tuesday.

“I just wanted to acknowledge to players that I understand where we might be as a team and that might be on somebody’s mind.”

Toronto (30-21) was fourth in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. That has the Raptors in contention for a playoff berth, despite pre-season expectations that they would be vying for a play-in spot.

On the surface, that position in the rankings would likely make Toronto general manager Bobby Webster a buyer ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m. Eastern. They have needs too, with a notable lack of size at centre behind Jakob Poeltl — who has only played seven minutes since Dec. 15 as he struggles with a sore lower back — and struggles with three-point shooting.

However, the Raptors were also in the NBA’s luxury tax zone, an issue that they addressed Wednesday afternoon.

Veteran point guard Chris Paul was traded to Toronto in a multi-team deal also involving the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, according to media reports. The Raptors sent forward Ochai Agbaji, their 2032 second-round draft pick and cash to the Nets, according to ESPN.

Those same reports said that Toronto would not require Paul to report to the team and could still discuss trades involving him before the deadline.

That move got the Raptors out of luxury tax trouble and cleared about US$7 million from the Clippers’ payroll.

Paul announced in November that this would be his final NBA season, but L.A. announced on Dec. 3 that it was parting ways with the likely Hall of Famer, sending him home.

“There is so little that we can control and so much that’s out of our control,” said Rajakovic, noting that he’s not privy to the front office’s dealings. “We’ve just got to focus on us, getting better, getting into the gym and putting in the great work that we had today in practice.”

Second-year point guard Jamal Shead said that he and swingman RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., discussed the realities of the NBA trade deadline earlier this week. Barrett was traded to Toronto ahead of the 2023 deadline along with point guard Immanuel Quickley.

“This is a business, and you go and do your job every day, and what happens, happens,” said Shead. “You control what you can control, and what we can control is coming in here, working and just trying to get better.”

The Raptors will host the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night in the second half of a back-to-back. Chicago was 10th in the Eastern Conference heading into play on Wednesday, holding the last play-in spot.

Backup centre Sandro Mamukelashvili, whose playing time might be affected if Toronto acquired another big man, said that he can’t focus on the trade deadline and the impact it might have on the Raptors’ roster.

“We have games to play. I think that’s the main focus right now, winning games and playing your part,” said Mamukelashvili. “It’s out of your control what happens.

“You can’t really focus on (the deadline), just control what your game is bringing every day. Your intensity, energy and making sure you help the team.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press