One year later, winner of Raptors-Knicks blockbuster still to be determined

A year ago the Toronto Raptors made a trade that officially signalled that the team was going to rebuild.

Toronto acquired guards Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., and a 2024 second-round draft pick in a deal with the Knicks on Dec. 30, 2023, sending forwards OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and reserve guard Malachi Flynn to New York in return.

Nobody — not even the players — knew what to expect from the surprising trade between two Atlantic Division rivals who were locked in litigation at the time of the deal.

"Honestly, when I first got traded, I didn't know if it was going to be the right fit. I didn't know if it was the best situation for me," said Quickley. "Realizing that change is good has helped me out a lot as far as where I want to go in my career, what I want to do, how I want to impact people, and how I want to change people's lives.

It was a big change for both the Raptors and the Knicks.

Toronto had taken Anunoby 23rd overall in the 2017 NBA Draft and he had been a key part of its 2019 NBA championship run. The move, followed by the trade of Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers just 18 days later, effectively dismantled that team.

New York had also been invested in Barrett, drafting him third overall in 2019.

It was also a shift in the Raptors' team-building philosophy.

Drafting athletic wings had long been the calling card of president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster but Quickley and Barrett typically play guard. Further, Anunoby and Achiuwa are renowned for their defensive prowess — the former led the NBA in steals in 2022-23 — whereas Barrett and Quickley are more scorers.

"They were really good on defence and I think we just bring something different offensively, shooting a