According to the former superstar himself, Vince Carter could end up back with the Raptors before his career is done, Josh Lewenberg of TSN tweets. Even if it simply comes in the form of a ceremonial contract.
“It’ll happen, I’m sure. Somehow,” Carter said.
While there have been attempts to reunite the greybeard swingman to his former franchise in the past, nothing has come to fruition. Perhaps more probable than Carter signing a typical contract with the team though, is the two parties inking a one-day deal so that he can formally retired with the franchise like Paul Pierce and Jason Maxiell did over the summer with the Celtics and Pistons, respectively.
“It’s supposed to happen I think. I can say that now,” Carter added.
While Carter’s tenure with the Raptors may have ended under different circumstances than many other stars who left their original teams, the city seems to have generally embraced their long-lost perennial All-Star after years of raucous booing any time he set foot in the Air Canada Centre.
In parts of seven seasons with the Raptors, Carter averaged 23.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, guiding the team as far as the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2001 before forcing his way out of town and eventually to the Nets.
These days the 20-year vet plays more of a leadership role than a tangible one but still sees the court, having signed on with the Kings to help develop a young core. That was by design considering that he’s unwilling to give up the routine of playing consistently at this point.
“I still want to play, I still want to compete, I still want to get out on the floor,” Carter told the media after Sacramento’s Sunday afternoon tilt in Toronto. “That’s not guaranteed, obviously on some of those elite teams and I’m just not ready for that.”
The Raptors, presumably, would qualify as one of those elite teams, too busy actively competing in the Eastern Conference to necessarily allot guaranteed playing time to a veteran whose best days are in the rearview mirror.
If, or perhaps when, that day comes though and Carter is ready serve as more of a symbolic asset than an actual one, the man who helped grow the popularity of basketball in Canada could end up back where his career began in 1998.