Blowout Loss Indicates Increased Roster Turnover for the Raptors
It cannot be emphasized enough: the Toronto Raptors are terrible.
To be honest, I can kind of understand that. The team’s hopes of making the playoffs were severely damaged by the departure of Scottie Barnes earlier this month. His hand fractured, shattering any chance of a magical run. However, Toronto isn’t even competitive anymore. The roster is completely lacking in talent as a result of the injuries to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl.
Consider the starting lineup that Toronto employed to play the Sacramento Kings, 123-89, in the first quarter: Jahmi’us Ramsey, Jordan Nwora, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jalen McDaniels, and Jontay Porter.
Examining which players from this motley group will return the following season may be worthwhile.
The Certain Things: Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk, and Gradey Dick
Only three players—Gradey Dick, Kelly Olynyk, and Ochai Agbaji—who participated on Wednesday are virtually guaranteed to return to the team the following season. Though it’s ideal for none of those players to play on opening night the next season, Dick and Agbaji might compete for the same starting guard position. Though it shouldn’t occur, it can.
It’s evident lately that Dick isn’t quite ready for starting minutes yet. For a 20-year-old rookie, playing the entire allotted minutes this late in the season is asking too much. Once again, he appeared to be outmatched as he finished the game with 5 points on 1 of 8 shots.
For the upcoming season, Olynyk will be a capable backup to Poeltl. Toronto would prefer to have a younger, developing big in the fold, but that doesn’t appear realistic given the lack of frontcourt playing time.
Agbaji is currently one of Toronto’s finest defensive guards, and he will be crucial going ahead for a Raptors squad severely devoid of defensively inclined guys. Despite having a somewhat good game—he shot 5-for-10 from the floor for 13 points against the Kings—he still needs to work on his offense.
Gary Trent Jr. and Jordan Nwora are most likely back.
Jordan Nwora and Gary Trent Jr. are both eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, and it is likely that they will return for the following campaign.
For years, it has been difficult to gauge Trent’s situation with the team, but the fact that Toronto chose to keep him on the roster after the trade deadline suggests that they want to re-sign him. Allowing players of his caliber to walk unpaid in free agency is usually a bad business decision, therefore the 25-year-old should return.
The Raptors will have an abundance of guards with little depth in the wings for the upcoming season if Trent, Dick, and Agbaji return. Although it’s not the best balance, Nwora has recently demonstrated enough offensive potential to be given a shot on a cheap contract this summer. He will likely return the next season, albeit he will need to improve his defense.
Bruce Brown, Jalen McDaniels, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jontay Porter, Mouhamadou Gueye, and Jahmi’us Ramsey are Not Likely to Return.
Bruce Brown’s summer trade or cut appears certain, especially if Toronto declines his team option and frees up some salary cap space. If the Raptors are unable to acquire Brown by the trade deadline, their best option is to locate a trade partner; nevertheless, in the worst case, Brown can always be waived. The $23 million that he will own next year is just not worth it.
Despite having a guaranteed salary of $4.7 million for the upcoming season, Jalen McDaniels will not be retained. He shouldn’t be back in the rotation after spending the majority of the year out of it, quite rightly.
Although Freeman-Liberty is signed to a non-guaranteed contract for the upcoming campaign and is expected to be at training camp, he hasn’t really demonstrated enough to have a greater than 50% chance of making the squad. In the summer, Freeman-Liberty will likely have competition from Toronto, so it wouldn’t be shocking if he lost to someone else.
This summer, or sooner in the case of Jahmi’us Ramsey, Jontay Porter, and Mouhamadou Gueye are all free agents. None have accomplished enough to merit much attention the next season. Gueye and Ramsey appear to be G League players and organization depth players, while Porter had brief bursts of success earlier this year but has struggled to maintain his health.