5:58pm: Freeman-Liberty has officially been converted to a standard deal, Toronto announced in a press release.
4:53pm: The Raptors are giving Javon Freeman-Liberty a promotion, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the 24-year-old will receive a multiyear standard deal. Freeman-Liberty is currently on a two-way contract.
A Chicago native who played four years of college ball at Valparaiso and DePaul, Freeman-Liberty went undrafted in 2022, later signing an Exhibit 10 contract with his hometown Bulls. He spent his first pro season playing for the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s NBA G League affiliate, and had an impressive Summer League run in 2023, which led to a two-way deal with Toronto.
Freeman-Liberty, a 6’4″ guard, has only played four total minutes across two appearances with the Raptors in 2023/24, which is technically his rookie season. He’s been a standout at the NBAGL level for the Raptors 905, however, averaging 23.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.2 APG and 1.5 SPG on .461/.345/.830 shooting in 25 Showcase Cup and regular season games (35.2 MPG).
“Javon is quiet guy who came into camp and made a lot of noise,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said. ” … We’re really proud of what he’s accomplished this year” (Twitter links via Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca and Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca).
Rajakovic added that he hopes to get Freeman-Liberty some playing time with the NBA club at some point this season.
The Raptors currently have 13 players on standard contracts, and a 14th — D.J. Carton — on a 10-day deal, which expires tonight. That means they won’t have to waive anyone to convert Freeman-Liberty, since standard rosters can hold up to 15 players.
More to come? His name is longer than his career what more is there to say?
Happy for this kid. Some of you may even remember his father, Marcus Liberty. Marcus was arguably the top high school player in the country as a senior at Chicago King. Played at Illinois. Good not great. Had a short NBA run.
Is that his dad? I am from Chicago I more than remember him and Nick Anderson. There was a third big guy on his teams as well.
DePaul has been nothing short of awful for over 25 years now. However, they do have Javon Freeman-Liberty, Max Strus and Paul Reed in the NBA though.
Cool. Not a fan of another guard under 6’5 but let’s hope his g league stardom carries over to the NBA…