The Raptors are conducting workouts for free agent big men, reports Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype (Twitter link). According to Kennedy, Thomas Robinson and Christian Wood are among the players earning a look from Toronto.
Having traded Jakob Poeltl to the Spurs in their blockbuster trade for Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors could use a little more depth in their frontcourt. While players like Leonard and OG Anunoby may see time at the four in smaller lineups, the only genuine bigs on the roster are Jonas Valanciunas, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam.
The Raptors have also signed second-year power forward Chris Boucher, but he’s a prospect on an Exhibit 10 contract, and likely won’t be counted on to play a real role during the season, assuming he even makes the 15-man roster.
A weekend report indicated that the Raptors have expressed some interest in free agent center Greg Monroe. Besides having a more extensive NBA track record than players like Robinson and Wood, Monroe also has a different skill set, so it will be interesting to see exactly what kind of player Toronto is looking for and how much the club is willing to spend.
The Raptors still have their $5.34MM taxpayer mid-level exception available, but their team salary is far beyond the luxury-tax line, so every dollar spent to fill out the roster will cost exponentially more in potential tax penalties. As such, Toronto may end up focusing on minimum-salary targets.
Greg Monroe would be an amazing pick up for Toronto, an improvement on Poeltl & anything they can have right now, he had again great numbers with little PT, this guy is a beast.
Clearly you never saw Poeltl play, and Monroe would be redundant with Valanciunas, who is a much better defender after having improved there last year, as well as an improved outside shot…but it doesnt surprise me b/c you criticize players/teams you’ve never watched all the time
If only Thomas Robinson had an offensive game
Jahlil Okafor… Greg Oden looked good in 3 minutes of TBT.
Wood looked great in summer league. I wanted the bucks to sign him
Christian Wood probably deserves a real look somewhere at this point. He seems to have gotten a little stronger and improved in some areas defensively, which were questions previously. He could give them an interesting option that can shoot and give them a different look as a big
C- Val
PF- Ibaka
SF- Leonard
SG- Green
PG- Lowry
Van Vleet and Wright get solid minutes at both guard position
Anunoby and Siakam sub at SF and PF
Monroe plays C behind Val.
CJ and Powell are SG/SF capable.
I don’t know if there’s a better 12 man unit than that in basketball. They would cruise to a top 3 finish in the east most likely but the trick would be finding a playoff rotation because they don’t have that clear 5-8 man group.