Quick Take: Have Mercy #RTPZFLZ

      Kyle Lowry and Aron Baynes are NBA old and experienced.  The rest of the team behind Fred, Pascal, and Norm are very young and NBA inexperienced.  Although said three, especially Pascal, are starting to round back into form, the season is short and there already may not be enough time to salvage the season.  Keeping Lowry and Baynes around to suffer through the current growing pains may not be worth trying to remain among the league's more competitive teams, nevermind the stunt in growth it's causing to the younger up and coming talent on the team.  On the other side, trading for James Harden makes you a winner now and most likely, puts you back in the same position next season.  Trading the two older players to teams that will be in contention with a key addition, keeps the Raptors management in a favourable perception league-wide.  It will also give the two vets the opportunity to compete again and keep Lowry a Raptors retirement surety when the time comes.  For the Raptors, it will mean hope in a likely lottery pick and optimism for fans who already know that the Raptors are capable of building from the ground up quickly.

       I'm not discounting the chances that this could turn around in the next few games as my panic stat for them is 2-11 but this team can't look the same if they reach that stat and expect fans to be committed to a positive outlook of the future.