Raptors acquire veteran guard Chris Paul as part of 3-team trade, avoiding luxury tax: reports

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 $7 million US