The Raptors have waived veteran center Alex Len, the team announced today in a press release. The transaction opens up a spot on Toronto’s roster, leaving the club with 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.
The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len had only played in seven of the Raptors’ 13 games so far this season, and was averaging 2.3 PPG in 10.9 MPG — both marks were his lowest since his rookie season. With Chris Boucher enjoying a breakout year and Aron Baynes also in the mix, Len was third on the depth chart at center.
Although Len hadn’t been playing regular minutes for the Raptors as of late, it’s still a somewhat unexpected move, since he signed a guaranteed contract with the team in free agency less than two months ago.
The 27-year-old recently missed multiple games for personal reasons and was listed as out due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Monday, but there has been no indication that his release was related to his recent absence.
Len’s $2.258MM salary will remain on Toronto’s cap unless he’s claimed on waivers, which seems unlikely. Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday afternoon and will be eligible to sign with any team.
The Raptors, meanwhile, won’t be required to fill their open roster spot, but could eventually use it to sign a veteran free agent, to accommodate a trade, or to promote two-way player Yuta Watanabe to the 15-man roster.
I would assume he’d be going to the Nets
nah i heard they might pick up dedmon
Dedmon is trash. Len is better.
Warriors need either Dedmon or Len.
No 7 Footers on the Depth chart behind Wiseman.
Len has size and 6 Fouls to dish out. Sign him up !!
Warriors just beat the Lakers with Wiseman, Looney, Paschall and Draymond – 7 footers aren’t even necessary lol
And if Wiseman were to get Injured?
We are the worst Rebounding team in the League, not because of skill, but because we lack Size.
Plus only a Fool would rely on Looney staying healthy for much longer. His hips have chronic issues.
ur talking bout a guy who’s lately been a liability for the raptors on offense. dedmon has some down years too but he can still bounce back and da reason why da nets want him is cuz hes a better floor spacer and can shot threes consistently
Yeah Len didn’t fit with the Raptors for whatever reason but he’s a positive player as a backup 5.
cuz they prob wanted to use him as a floor spacer and shot creator like wut gasol did. yea, him and baynes didnt really fit in well with da raptors. i could see him going to GS to improve their defense and provide more size. dont think GS will want dedmon back
Dedmond has one good season in Atlanta. But he is a turnover hawk with struggle 3 point shooting and to small for a good rebounding. Defense is ok.
true. he wus shooting bricks back in SAC and lost his starting spot to holmes but at least was able to bounce back in his second stint with da hawks. only thing he prob good at is rebounding cuz of his 7 foot size and his defense.
He struggle by the rebounding. He is a small Center. But he have a good physics and the skills for a good ring protector
Another problem…. Tournover….. maaaaaaany tournover
More than buddy in transition
bruh hes 7 foot.
Atlanta and Sacramento hasn’t terrible rebound statistics in many gameswith Dedmond of the court
dedmond was solid on rebounding in atlanta tho but i think da issue in SAC was floor spacing like he wasnt a fit gave him a 3 year 60 million deal. tbh i admit his rebounding and offense were garbage during his short time in SAC.
You didn’t see him last season then at Kings. Bricks after bricks
wtf. tbh i didnt expect that. and yk wut my ex favorite team should do? waive paul watson too. lol and then u got two open spots. i already predicted that they were gunna cut someone considering their rough start dis season.
whos next to be cut? baynes? if so, i assume they’re gunna add another young center like labriserrie or patton or go back to digging in da g league for another chris boucher.
I think Skal would be a great fit there. If they are patient with him, he might actually reach some of his potential.
now they could trade baynes, powell, johnson, davis, and mccaw for derozan and poeltl. wouldnt that be a good trade?
Why would the spurs do that when having a good season so far. That’s not going to make them better. And pop is not going to get worse for no reason. Not really a good trade
then wut bout baynes, powell, johnson, davis, and mccaw for vuevic, aminu, and maybe ross? if so, they could have an opportunity to build around bamba and gordon.
He about to cash out twice this season.
Len has positive trade value
Why didn’t Raptors trade him for a top 40 protected Second?
Because no one was willing to give one up perhaps. You don’t get to trade just because you want to or because some website arbitrarily says they have positive trade value. You have to have another team willing to take on the player and his salary while giving up something of value as well. That doesn’t always happen, especially if other teams know you are going to cut him anyway.
Not allowed to trade free agent signings yet.
Or, he doesn’t have positive trade value. Teams try to trade a player before they wave them.
I could see him going to Brooklyn at least until Claxton is ready.
They got wayyy too many guards on the team. Waive Watson and McCaw and bring back Hollis Jefferson, Caboclo + Hernandez to fill out the backcourt.
If hollis jefferson being cut was really a numbers game like they say, I would think he would be a prime candidate to take that roster spot
Nick Nurse strikes me as a guy who screams at his kids and makes the neighbors feel awkward
LOL
They (experts) all said this yr was a weak draft. We heard that all year, right. Dudes look at 2013 draft
link to basketball-reference.com
Has to be one of worst ever. Best picks were outside lottery it seems. Oladipo and CJ are only lottery picks who did well. And Magic and OKC gave up on Oladipo. Had forgot all about this.
2013 gets a lot of flak, but I honestly believe the following year was a worse draft.
As far as the lottery picks go, Steven Adams has been really good. Otto Porter wasn’t that bad either. At least as good as Oladipo and CJ. Cody Zeller and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope haven’t embarrassed themselves either. No superstars, but all solid NBA players.
With 2014, every lottery pick has been at least slightly disappointing in their career. In fact, I would go as far to say Clint Capela is the only first round pick that year to outperform his draft slot. Even Joel Embiid, who is good, has missed more than half of the games in his career. If you are not on the court, it doesn’t matter how good people say you are. Now, the second round in 2014 produced a lot of gems, but the 1st round is one of the worst of all time.
Embiid is best center of his generation. On him alone it’s a better draft. Lottery picks at the very least should be rotation players. Top lottery should be starters Wiggins, Randle, Gordon, Smart, Payton, Saric, LaVine, Warren are all starters (lottery). Much better than 2013. 2020 also will be much better. Just shows even experts at times are not much better than real fans.
If you are going best player determining the draft, then I think Giannis trumps Embiid. Plus, advanced stats do not agree with your determination of Embiid as the best center of the generation.
As far as your assessment. I would have higher expectations for a lottery pick than just “being a starter.” Especially for a top overall pick like Wiggins. I disagree with you. 2013 is not a great class by any determination, but I believe it is better than 2014. And up there with 2015 as well. 2015 is basically a 2 man draft with KAT and Booker. Well, two and a half men if you want to consider the always injured Porzingis as being more than just his hype.
Otto Porter “at least” as good as Oladipo and CJ? You’re kidding right?
Not currently, but at his peak he was a very good player. Not All Star level, but probably the next step down from that.
Although if I am being honest, the almost as good as Dipo and CJ was meant to be paired with Steven Adams not Otto Porter. I did a bit of editing and the sentences got jumbled a bit.
He has had a very uneventful career for being a top 5 pick. I know 2013 was a weak draft and all, but even with it being a weak draft, Len has still been a disappointment. He hasn’t been a bust because he has played in the league for 7 years, but his career has been a major disappointment when stacked against his elite draft status.
Dedmon or Skal definitely make sense to replace Len…
Lakers need another true big
He was really good in sac. Would be a lateral move but I would rather have him than Whiteside.
Yes, I liked Len by the Kings. Defense and Rebounding was in combination with bazemore a good wall. Dedmond and ariza was terrible.
Yep lets get him back need D
Len alone is a little factor. The team defense is terrible. Buddy, Bagley, CoJo are complete confuse.