After seeing their season end with Wednesday’s play-in loss to Chicago, the Raptors are about to enter a very expensive era if they hope to keep the team’s current core together, writes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. New contracts will have to be negotiated for five veteran players during the next two years, along with a rookie scale extension for Scottie Barnes.
The first priority is this summer when Fred VanVleet, Jakob Poeltl and Gary Trent Jr. are all likely to be free agents. VanVleet, who’s expected to decline a $22.8MM player option, is eligible for an extension through June 30, but he’s in position to land a bigger contract through free agency. Gozlan expects VanVleet’s next deal to be on par with Jrue Holiday, Kyle Lowry and Jalen Brunson.
Poeltl, who was acquired at the trade deadline, is also eligible for an extension, but like VanVleet it will be more profitable for him to become a free agent. Gozlan foresees a new contract that will put him in the neighborhood of Jarrett Allen, Nikola Vucevic and Clint Capela.
Trent could also choose free agency if he turns down an $18.6MM player option. Trent, who no longer starts but remains one of Toronto’s only dependable shooters off the bench, is likely to stay in his same salary range but on a long-term deal, according to Gozlan.
There’s more from Toronto:
- There has been a lot of speculation about coach Nick Nurse’s future, but there’s still “a pathway forward” for him to remain with the Raptors, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on “NBA Countdown” before Wednesday’s game (video link). Nurse has been communicating with team president Masai Ujiri, according to Wojnarowski, who expects those conversations to continue. If Nurse and the team part ways, Woj mentions the Rockets as a potential next destination, saying he’s “very high on their list.”
- Wednesday’s loss capped a frustrating season that began with an injury in training camp to free agent addition Otto Porter Jr., notes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Porter, who signed a two-year, $12.3MM deal, played just eight games before being lost for the season with a dislocated toe, leaving the Raptors with depth problems that were never solved.
- The addition of Poeltl helped to turn Toronto’s season around to some extent, Grange states in another Sportsnet.ca article. He provided a presence in the middle that the team had been lacking and helped the Raptors post a 15-10 record once he entered the starting lineup.
They can’t let Yak walk after paying that price. That was definitely not a one and done type move. I see them reaching an agreement there. Not sure about the others. Could be a busy offseason for Masai and company.
FVV is gone. There’s just no way they will outbid the Magic, who are all over him. Nor should they. Let him go (he’s been overrated his whole career anyway by people who love that he was undrafted and played four years in college) and trade OG for a different lead guard (Jamal Murray comes to mind, as he’s from Toronto).
So the solution to get better this off-season is to let their lead guard walk and trade their best wing defender? Makes total sense to me.
Horrendous take on the Raptors situation. Let’s let our lead guard walk at a very affordable price bwaaaaaaa. Let’s trade our up and coming power forward for a point guard to replace the one we let walk bwaaaaaaa.
I agree Jacob is a move to keep. Masai has been looking for a consistent solution for the 5 and now has it. OG is a menace on D and with multiple ball handlers I think Fred is the odd man out.
I like VV but I can’t believe a guy gets a raise for shooting 39/34. Last year 40/37. He bombs away especially in close game situations and they’re only good shots when they go in. I would rather give Scottie, Trent or OG 16 shots a game. The other guards mentioned as comparable contracts are superior shooters and tough defenders that also attack the paint more effectively. If other teams think VV is worth a raise then maybe a sign and trade for some experienced depth or some actual shooters would work. Scottie has to be used more as well, so maybe bigger changes are coming.
TOR (Ujiri) has to come to grips with the fact that the roster he constructed along the lines of his own basketball ideology is flawed. If he does, I think the moves are out there for a relatively quick turnaround. Mainly because the roster is not (yet) undertalented. But time is a wasting. Losing guys to FA, without generating usable cap space, isn’t going to improve the team.
Rockets need Doc Rivers. For the regular season, Rivers is better than Nurse per record
It’s good if Rockets can win 1 playoffs series.
For the past 10 years, Doc Rivers had average 50 wins in the regular season and won 5 playoffs series (all first round playoffs).
Keep: OG, Spicy, SB, JP, Precious, Banton, Koloko
Trade/let walk: GT, FVV, Boucher, the rest of the bench
Let Nurse go, promote Griffin.
Acquire starting 1 or 2 and 6th man 1 or 2.
That’s it simple. Lol. This is why they pay Masai the big bucks though…go get it done. Find a way…