The Toronto Raptors unofficially kicked off the NBA's trade season on Saturday when they sent OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks as part of a blockbuster deal that indicates a rebuild could be on the way. That likely doesn't make many fans happy, and it sure didn't make Scottie Barnes happy from the sounds of it either.

The Raptors have a lot of talented pieces on their roster, with Barnes being among the best of them. The problem is that they just haven't been able to win games consistently, which necessitated moving on from Anunoby. Barnes wasn't thrilled with that decision, as he and Anunoby became close friends during their time in Toronto.

“None of this should confuse people about the Raptors’ being some sort of in-fighting soap opera of a team. Barnes declined to speak to the media after the game, visibly upset about the trade, even if it was done with his future in mind. Anunoby and Achiuwa were Barnes’ post-practice shooting partners, and this was the first big trade he has witnessed firsthand.” – Eric Koreen, The Athletic

The Raptors have to keep Scottie Barnes happy

 

By moving on from Anunoby, the Raptors are pretty much confirming Barnes to be their main building block for the future, but he still isn't happy with the move. Barnes was close with both Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, who was also involved in this deal, and he likely wanted to try to win with the current core of players that he was with in Toronto.

The move was one the Raptors almost had to make, but it's not one that Barnes is going to be happy about, and now Toronto has to focus on finding a way to keep their star forward happy. This is a piece of the trade that likely will be getting overlooked, and it will be interesting to see how Barnes handles this trade moving forward.