Toronto, though, held firm, much to the dismay of rival front offices across the league. The Raptors had dangled each of Anunoby, All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet and All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam for weeks in the lead-up to the deadline, sources said, only for Toronto to send a protected first-rounder out the door and obtain center Jakob Poeltl instead. Then, the Raptors watched VanVleet walk to Houston in free agency and net nothing in return. And when the Raptors began this 2023-24 campaign far below preseason expectations — currently standing 12-19, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference — executives began to pinpoint Toronto as a main actor for this year’s trade activity yet again, as potential sellers of Anunoby, Siakam and veteran wing Gary Trent Jr.