Moving Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis headlined the Golden State Warriors' activity before the trade deadline, but they sneakily followed that immediately by sending Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick.
While it didn't draw too much attention on Wednesday night, it certainly has now after Jackson-Davis produced a stunning performance in his debut for the Raptors against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
Warriors trade immediately looks worse after Trayce Jackson-Davis' debut
Jackson-Davis logged just over 15 minutes in his debut at ScotiaBank Arena, becoming the first Toronto player since Kawhi Leonard to record a double-double in his first game with the franchise.
The 25-year-old finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in quick time, shooting 2-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the free-throw line. Eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end as the Raptors won that battle 17-7, while Jackson-Davis also had one assist, one steal and one block as the hosts recorded a 122-104 victory against their Eastern Conference rival.
It was the third-year center's first double-double since January last year against the Detroit Pistons, with Raptors fans and analysts quickly warming to Jackson-Davis after an impressive first appearance.
TJD moving me pic.twitter.com/1aqTwNKzcp
— Stevie (@RaptorsShaq) February 8, 2026
You can see why the Raptors were interested in TJD. Good offensive rebounder, strong feel on defense, good screens. Those were all things they needed more of.
— Raptors Report (@RapsReport) February 8, 2026
With usual starting center Jakob Poeltl still out with a back injury, Jackson-Davis could foreseeably play more for Toronto moving forward after becoming an inconsistent member of Steve Kerr's rotation with Golden State.
Jackson-Davis had an impressive first season and became a starter late in his rookie campaign, before remaining in the role through the first-half of his second season. Yet his inability to stretch the floor became too much to overcome with Draymond Green also in the starting lineup, leaving Jackson-Davis relegated to the bench and quickly behind rookie center Quinten Post.
With the Warriors adding veteran center Al Horford as a major free agency addition, the writing was seemingly on the wall for Jackson-Davis who averaged a career-low 11.4 minutes in 36 games this season before the trade.
The addition of the 7'2" Porzingis sealed his fate, and Golden State quite frankly did the right thing for Jackson-Davis' development in quickly sending him to the Raptors. Still, it's a trade that could come back to bite them if he becomes a consistent and productive rotation player, especially given it would signal another failure in the franchise's development of young players.
Jackson-Davis averaged 6.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 166 games over his nearly three seasons with the Warriors, having been taken late in the second-round at 57th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.