The D-League affiliate of the Raptors has acquired DeAndre Daniels, whom Toronto selected 37th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, a source tells Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor (Twitter link). NBA teams are allowed to bring draftees directly onto the rosters of their D-League teams without them being subject to the D-League’s waiver system. The small forward from the University of Connecticut spent last season, when the Raptors didn’t have a one-to-one D-League affiliate, playing for the Perth Wildcats in Australia.
The Raptors weren’t ruling out the idea of adding Daniels to the NBA roster for this season, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca reported in June, but the small forward has instead remained unsigned since suffering a Jones fracture in his right foot during preparations for summer league in July. His numbers in Australia last season weren’t overwhelming, as he averaged 14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per game with 34.1% 3-point shooting.
Toronto is also adding four-year NBA veteran center Greg Smith to its D-League roster, as Reichert also reports and as we detail here. Daniels, who turns 24 in April, isn’t allowed to sign with any NBA team other than the Raptors, unlike Smith and most of his soon-to-be D-League teammates, since Toronto still owns his NBA draft rights. The Raptors don’t have much flexibility on their NBA roster, with 15 fully guaranteed contracts, so it appears Daniels has a lengthy D-League stay ahead of him.