When word that the Toronto Raptors were trading Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings for what amounts to be a pile of expiring contracts, many fans had visions of Andrew Wiggins dancing in their heads.

It’s a fair initial assessment, really. When a team trades arguably its most talented player and doesn’t get equal talent back in the deal, it’s normally fair to assume the club will struggle to replace the superstar.

But these are the Toronto Raptors and this is a very different situation. For those of you hoping the Gay trade will have the Raps near the league’s basement and in line for a lottery pick, you could end up disappointed.

Rudy Gay may still have the talent to be a special player in Sacramento. That said, don’t be surprised if the Raptors not only are a better team down the road because of this trade, but also a better team this season because of this move.

Gay was toxic to Toronto’s offence. Once the ball found him, it didn’t find anyone else, causing the attack to stall as Gay clanked one contested jumper after another – shooting 38.8 percent from the floor. The Raptors never found any flow with their attack because the ball stopped as soon as it hit Gay’s hands.

Now, this isn’t to say the Raptors are about to make a run up the Eastern Conference. This is a team lacking talent at a number of key positions and Toronto may very well fall well outside the playoff picture. But the Raps will be a better team after this trade that sent Gay, Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento in exchange for point guard Greivis Vasquez, veteran John Salmons and big men Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes.

The move finally allows Toronto to see what they have with Jonas Valanciunas, DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Kyle Lowry. In a perfect world, Valanciunas develops into a solid force in the middle and DeRozan relishes his role as the offence’s go-to guy, while the Raptors continue to lose games to get closer to drafting Wiggins.

That just may not happen. This team might not have the talent level it had when Gay was on the floor, but it could still end up being just as good as it would have been by the end of the season. Only time will tell of course, but the bright side is now without Gay and Andrea Bargnani on the books, Toronto GM Masai Ujiri has cut $20 million from the payroll for next season.

That means more big changes aren’t that far off.