Raptors Reset: State of the roster after a month of free agency
Who’s in? Who’s out? What’s next? Answers to these questions and more.
The Toronto Raptors are now officially one month into free agency. To recap, they entered this period with the goal of re-signing free agents and running things back with new head coach Darko Rajakovic.
As you may have heard, things didn’t go as planned.
On July 1, the Raptors found themselves supremely outbid for franchise cornerstone Fred VanVleet, who signed an incredibly lucrative contract — three years and $130 million — with the Houston Rockets.
That could’ve triggered a major rebuild, especially considering point guard might have been their position of least depth last season.
But no! Despite persistent rumours surrounding core players — Pascal Siakam, in particular — the team has been relatively quiet, making smaller moves around the edges over ones that would truly upset the status quo.
So where does that leave the team? Here’s a quick look at who’s out, who’s coming in, and where that leaves the team’s roster.
Who’s out?
As mentioned, VanVleet is the big departure. He was an integral part of the team’s 2019 NBA championship, a 2021–22 all-star, and a veteran leader.
Many will be sad to see him go, but it’s absolutely impossible to begrudge him taking the money from Houston, given the amount of money we’re talking about — and how hard he worked just to make an NBA roster in the first place. When he returns to Scotiabank Arena as a Rocket, he’ll be cheered.
Other departures include Rexdale native Dalano Banton, who became a free agent when the Raptors declined to tender him a qualifying offer. He is now a member of the rival Boston Celtics.
Also gone are Joe Wieskamp and late-February addition Will Barton.
Who’s in?
The closest thing we’ve seen to a potential VanVleet replacement is Dennis Schroder, whose addition was announced very shortly after new broke about FVV’s departure.
A 10-year NBA veteran from Germany, Schroder signed for two years and $26 million, a big jump from the $2.6 million he made last year in Los Angeles while playing alongside LeBron James and Co. with the Lakers.
The 29-year-old (who’ll be 30 by opening day) has both started and come off the bench in his career, and has proven a reliable scorer — if not a totally consistent outside shooter.
Other free agent adds include Jalen McDaniels — a 25-year-old, six-foot-nine small forward who’s shown flashes of developing into a 3-and-D wing. Also, just this week the team signed Garrett Temple, a 37-year-old, six-foot-five swingman who has played the point at times throughout his career.
In the draft, the Raptors snapped up Gradey Dick when he fell to No. 11. The six-foot-eight Kansas University prospect was thought of as one of the best shooters in the 2023 draft class, and showed in Summer League how he can fill an immediate need.
Toronto also added four players on two-way and Exhibit 10 contracts — Marquis Nowell, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Mouhamadou Gueye, and Kevin Obanor.
The former type of contract allows players to move back and forth between the NBA team and its G-League affiliate, and the Exhibit 10 is a one-year minimum salary deal that can be converted to a two-way before the season starts or waived with no cap penalty.
What does the roster look like now?
Unless something else changes, this is the Raptors’ 21-player training camp roster:
Guaranteed | |
---|---|
Precious Achiuwa | Forward |
OG Anunoby | Forward |
Scottie Barnes | Forward |
Chris Boucher | Forward-Center |
Gradey Dick | Guard |
Malachi Flynn | Guard |
Christian Koloko | Center |
Jalen McDaniels | Forward-Center |
Jakob Poeltl | Center |
Otto Porter | Forward |
Dennis Schroder | Guard |
Pascal Siakam | Forward |
Garrett Temple | Guard-Forward |
Gary Trent Jr. | Guard-Forward |
Thaddeus Young | Forward |
Two-way | |
Ron Harper Jr. | Forward |
Marquis Nowell | Guard |
Javon Freeman-Liberty | Guard |
Exhibit 10 | |
Mouhamadou Gueye | Forward |
Kevin Obanor | Forward |
Training Camp | |
Jeff Dowtin | Guard |
Of course, no one should be getting used to this mix.
Teams can carry 15 players and two two-way contracts into the season for a total of 17 players. And as you can see above, the Raptors already have 15 guaranteed-contract players on the roster.
So unless a trade happens or a guaranteed player gets waived, the main roster is set. That leaves the six guys on two-way, Exhibit 10, and training camp deals competing for those two two-way spots.
What will the starting lineup look like?
A little intrigue here.
If we slot Schroder in for VanVleet as a lot of sites out there seem to be doing, the depth chart now looks something like this (new additions in green):
STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | |
---|---|---|---|
PG | D. Schroder | M. Flynn | G. Temple |
SG | O. Anunoby | G. Trent | O. Porter |
SF | S. Barnes | G. Dick | J. McDaniels |
PF | P. Siakam | C. Boucher | T. Young |
C | J. Poeltl | P. Achiuwa | C. Koloko |
Of course, there are a couple of elephants in the room here.
One, this starting unit lacks outside shooting, even compared to the Raptors’ poor-shooting starting unit from a year ago. Schroder has been a decent catch-and-shoot three-point shooter at points in the past, but it’s not exactly his calling card. He also simply won’t be feared to the degree that VanVleet was — even in a down year for the latter.
Two, Scottie Barnes thinks of himself as a point guard. Many have pointed (get it?) it out in the past, but just look at his Instagram bio:
Training camp and the pre-season will determine what new coach Rajakovic thinks of the idea, and nothing is confirmed one way or the other. But what would the Raptors’ rotation look like with the third-year player in the starting PG spot?
Well, they could simply slide Schroder over to the two, let OG play his more natural small forward position and call it a day. Or they could try something like this:
STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | |
---|---|---|---|
PG | S. Barnes | D. Schroder | M. Flynn |
SG | G. Trent | G. Dick | G. Temple |
SF | O. Anunoby | O. Porter | J. McDaniels |
PF | P. Siakam | C. Boucher | T. Young |
C | J. Poeltl | P. Achiuwa | C. Koloko |
With this, you have two 35+ per cent three-point shooters in the starting lineup to go along with No. 1 offensive option Pascal Siakam, and a fully empowered Barnes as lead playmaker.
The unit also remains solid defensively with Poeltl rebounding and patrolling the paint, though Barnes or OG Anunoby would have their hands full checking opposing teams’ smaller, quicker guards.
As for the second unit, Schroder would seem to work very well as a sixth man — a role he’s filled with aplomb for other teams in the past. Also, should Otto Porter be fully healthy to start the season the bench mob on its own boasts a good deal of shooting.
Just a thought experiment, but it’s interesting.
What’s next for the team?
Outside of the FIBA Men’s World Cup later this month, things should be pretty quiet until training camp starts on Oct. 3. Pre-season games will follow just a couple of days later.
There will also be an announcement surrounding NBA regular-season schedules in the coming days. Last year, the schedule was announced on Aug. 17.
Code and markup by Craig Battle. ©Torontoverse, 2023