Malcolm Miller

Raptors Sign Malcolm Miller To Multi-Year Contract

As the Raptors continue to shape up their roster after the trade deadline, Blake Murphy of The Athletic is reporting (via Twitter) that the team is signing Malcolm Miller to a multi-year contract. Miller was originally expected to ink a 10-day contract, but CBA rules required Toronto to sign standard contracts to get to 12 players.

Murphy reports that the deal is expected to be for two seasons, with the 2019/20 season being non-guaranteed. The team has confirmed the signing in a press release.

Miller, 25, spent the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 15 games for the NBA squad and averaging 12.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 34 contests for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. He was a candidate to stick with the team for 2018/19, but suffered a dislocated shoulder during Summer League play.

Since then, Miller has remained in the organization, rehabbing his injury with the G League squad and recently making his return to the court. In six games with the Raptors 905, Miller averaged only a modest 8.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG, but Toronto apparently saw enough to give him a promotion.

The Raptors still have multiple roster spots to fill as the regular season reaches the stretch run.

Raptors Notes: Roster, Gasol, Leonard, Lowry

The Raptors have agreements to add a pair of players on 10-day contracts, but they might not join the team right away. A franchise has to have 12 players with standard contracts before it can issue 10-day deals, tweets Keith Smith of Real GM, and Toronto is down to 10 after after the trade deadline.

Malcolm Miller and Ben McLemore have both committed to joining the Raptors on 10-day contracts as soon as the situation is resolved. A 25-year-old forward, Miller was a two-way player in Toronto last season and appeared in 15 games. He suffered a dislocated shoulder during Summer League and has been doing rehab work with the Raptors’ G League affiliate. McLemore, the seventh pick in the 2014 draft, was waived by the Kings this week.

GM Bobby Webster tells Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports that the team plans to be aggressive on the buyout market. It will comply with league rules about roster size, but several moves may not come until after the All-Star break. (Twitter link). The Raptors have compiled a ranking of buyout prospects and have talked with several of their agents to express interest (Twitter link).

There’s more from Toronto:

  • Newly acquired center Marc Gasol doesn’t mind that the Raptors plan to experiment with him to determine his best role, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. The former Grizzlies star came off the bench Saturday in his Raptors debut, posting seven points and six rebounds in a win over the Knicks. Coach Nick Nurse plans to use Gasol’s passing skills to expand the offense and will make him “captain” of the defense. “I’m not going to rush anything,” Gasol said. “As a player you just want to help a team accomplish their goals. That’s what this is about.”
  • Knicks fans have interest in Kawhi Leonard‘s future now that their team has room to offer two max contracts, but the Raptors forward didn’t want to discuss the topic after Saturday’s game in New York, relays Steve Popper of Newsday. “I’m not talking about that right now,” he told reporters. “We’re going to get there. I’m focused on this season. We can talk about the game.”
  • Team president Masai Ujiri doesn’t expect Kyle Lowry to be rattled about hearing his name in trade rumors, according to Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. There were whispers that Lowry might be headed out of Toronto if the team could acquire Mike Conley from the Grizzlies. “I had a very good conversation with Kyle, and rumors are rumors, to be honest,” Ujiri said. “I see no issues, honestly, with him. Zero. We’re good, and I think his mind is focused on this run.”

Raptors To Sign Malcolm Miller To 10-Day Contract

The Raptors, left with five open roster spots after the trade deadline, will begin to fill those openings by signing forward Malcolm Miller to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Miller, 25, spent the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 15 games for the NBA squad and averaging 12.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 34 contests for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. He was a candidate to stick with the team for 2018/19, but suffered a dislocated shoulder during Summer League play.

Since then, Miller has remained in the organization, rehabbing his injury with the G League squad and recently making his return to the court. In six games with the Raptors 905, Miller averaged only a modest 8.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG, but Toronto apparently saw enough to give him a promotion.

The Raptors entered this week with 14 players under contract, but moved Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles, Greg Monroe, and Malachi Richardson, only receiving Marc Gasol in return. That series of transactions left Toronto with 10 players, requiring the club to make a roster addition immediately.

The league-mandated minimum is 14 players, not counting two-way deals, but teams are permitted to dip as low as 11 for up to two weeks at a time. The Raptors will have until later this month to add three more players to their roster, perhaps via the G League or the buyout market.

Raptors Waive Malcolm Miller

The Raptors have completed their series of transactions involving Malcolm Miller, as the team waived him on Saturday, per Blake Murphy of The Athletic (via Twitter). This move was expected, as it was the final step in the team’s plan to allow Miller to recover from a torn labrum that he suffered in Summer League play.

Murphy previously explained that the Raptors’ plan was to sign Miller to an Exhibit 10 contract, waive him, and then allow him to rehab the injury with the Raptors 905. As a result of this series of transactions, the young forward will receive an Exhibit 10 bonus and stick with the organization while he recovers.

Miller is on track to potentially get back on the court in January, Murphy adds.

As a result of the team waiving him on Saturday, Miller will clear waivers before opening day and won’t count on Toronto’s cap sheet at all.

Raptors Re-Sign Malcolm Miller

5:50pm: The Raptors have made Miller’s signing official, Murphy tweets.

3:56pm: The Raptors are expected to re-sign Malcolm Miller, a source tells Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Murphy, the deal is pending a physical.

Miller, 25, spent the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Raptors, appearing in 15 games for the NBA squad and averaging 12.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 34 games for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. The club initially tendered him a two-way qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, but withdrew that QO after he suffered a dislocated shoulder during Summer League play.

Murphy, who classifies that injury as a torn labrum, writes that the Raptors’ plan is to sign Miller to an Exhibit 10 contract, waive him, and then allow him to rehab the injury with the Raptors 905. The series of transactions will allow the young forward to receive an Exhibit 10 bonus and stick with the organization while he recovers.

Miller is on track to potentially get back on the court in January, Murphy adds.

Raptors Rescind Qualifying Offer To Malcolm Miller

The Raptors have withdrawn their qualifying offer to forward Malcolm Miller, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to RealGM.

The 6’7” Miller played on a two-way contract with Toronto last season. He appeared in 15 games, including four starts, and averaged 2.5 PPG in 8.4 MPG.

A summer-league injury may have played into the Raptors’ decision. Miller suffered a dislocated shoulder in Las Vegas.

Miller, 25, went undrafted in 2015 after playing college ball at Holy Cross.

Atlantic Notes: Chandler, Williams, Russell, Nets

While he reportedly wasn’t always happy with role in Denver, Wilson Chandler sounds ready to take on whatever role he’s asked to play with his new team After being acquired by the Sixers, Chandler spoke to reporters – including Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com – about how he thinks he’ll fit in Philadelphia.

“Me personally, I don’t worry about coming off the bench or starting – I have had both of them in my career,” said the Sixers’ newest forward. “I have come off the bench before and I’ve started before. I’m not opposed to that at all. I just want to win. I’m just blessed to be back with a playoff team and looking forward to pushing it as far as we can.”

For his part, Sixers head coach Brett Brown is excited to have Chandler in his lineup, citing the veteran’s ability to make three-pointers and guard multiple positions. “The versatility in his game is extremely impressive,” Brown said of Chandler.

Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Atlantic…

  • Celtics rookie Robert Williams has an artery condition in both of his legs, multiple sources tell Fred Katz of MassLive.com. According to Katz, the condition – known as popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES), is considered “not too serious” for now. NBA teams, including the Celtics, were aware of Williams’ condition heading into the draft, per Katz, who says the team will regular monitor the big man’s PAES.
  • The Nets and D’Angelo Russell‘s camp have yet to discuss a rookie scale extension, but Russell is using his friend Devin Booker‘s new $158MM deal as motivation, writes Michael Scotto of The Athletic.
  • Nets Summer League swingman Yuta Watanabe is making a case for a training camp invite and a chance to become the NBA’s second-ever Japanese-born player, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post details.
  • Raptors forward Malcolm Miller, who received a qualifying offer as a two-way player, suffered a dislocated shoulder and will miss the rest of Summer League play, according to the team (Twitter link). It’s not clear how the injury might impact Miller’s free agency.

Raptors Issue QOs To VanVleet, Miller, De Colo

The Raptors have extended qualifying offers to Fred VanVleet, Malcolm Miller, and Nando De Colo, ensuring that all three players will become restricted free agents, the team announced today (via Twitter).

VanVleet, the most notable of the three players, had a breakout season for the Raptors in 2017/18. The leader of the team’s second unit, VanVleet averaged 8.6 PPG and 3.2 APG with a .414 3PT% and was a finalist for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award. His qualifying offer is worth just under $1.7MM.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca detailed earlier today, the Raptors are wary of a rival suitor back-loading an offer sheet to VanVleet via the Arenas provision. However, if the 24-year-old doesn’t receive any over-the-top offers from other teams, there’s a good chance he’ll remain in Toronto on a new multiyear deal.

Miller was on a two-way contract with the Raptors in 2017/18, so his QO will be a one-year, two-way contract offer with a $50K guarantee.

As for De Colo, he hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2013/14 season, but the Raptors have retained the right of first refusal on the 31-year-old since then by issuing qualifying offers each year. De Colo seems unlikely to return to the NBA at this point, given his success overseas — the CSKA Moscow guard has earned First Team All-EuroLeague honors for three straight seasons. As such, the Raps’ QO looks like a mere formality.

The only Raptors player eligible for restricted free agency who didn’t receive a qualifying offer today is Lucas Nogueira. The team has a couple more days to issue a QO if it changes its mind, but it appears Nogueira will become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins.

Raptors Open Up Spot On NBA Roster

Nigel Hayes‘ second 10-day contract with the Raptors expired overnight on Sunday, leaving the team facing a decision on whether or not to re-sign him for the rest of the season. According to Eric Koreen of The Athletic (Twitter link), Hayes is “done as a Raptor” for now, suggesting the club has no immediate plans to re-sign him.

Hayes, who also got a brief look from the Lakers on a 10-day contract this season, has accumulated 30 days of NBA service during his rookie season. However, the young forward only appeared in four total games for L.A. and Toronto, playing very limited minutes (4.3 MPG) in those contests.

Assuming he doesn’t receive another NBA deal from the Raptors or any other team, Hayes would likely return to the Westchester Knicks for the G League playoffs. The former Wisconsin standout has averaged 16.1 PPG and 6.7 RPG with a .451/.454/.744 shooting line in 38 games for New York’s NBAGL affiliate this season.

As for the Raptors, they’ll open up a spot on their 15-man roster, since they only have 14 players on guaranteed contracts. There’s no rush for Toronto to fill that open slot, but I’d expect the team to do so before the postseason gets underway. One option for the Raps would be to sign one of their two-way players – likely Malcolm Miller – to an NBA contract before the end of the regular season, making him playoff-eligible.

Atlantic Notes: Irving, Baker, Miller, Nets Progress

Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving underwent a procedure on his left knee on Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for three to six weeks. Irving’s knee was found to be structurally sound aside from the soreness, a good sign given his troubles with the knee in recent years.

A source tells Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald that doctors were happy with Irving’s kneecap, which had been an issue for him since the 2015 postseason.

“Now it’s a matter of how long it takes the soft tissue to heal,” the source told Murphy. “They’ve known that the knee is sound. The ligaments, cartilage and tendons are all fine.”

Within the confines of the timetable, Irving could be back anywhere from the first round to the end of the second round of the postseason. However, Irving is considered an integral part of the Celtics’ present and future and the team wants him healthy.

In 60 games, Irving averaged 24.4 PPG and 5.1 APG while playing improved defense.

Check out more Atlantic Division notes:

  • Oft-injured Knicks point guard Ron Baker underwent surgery on his torn right labrum in February and just recently ditched his sling. Baker spoke to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News about his future rehab steps. “Just depends on what staff thinks is best for me,” Baker said. “I’ll see when I get healthy in June. Because not touching a ball for four months and just jumping right into things obviously would be shaky. So obviously summer is going to be a big deal for me.
  • The Raptors have to make a decision on whether or not sign him Nigel Hayes for the remainder of the season. However, given Malcolm Millers usage during OG Anunobys injury versus Hayes’ garbage time minutes, Miller is the more likely candidate for the 15th roster spot, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Miller is currently on a two-way deal.
  • Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said that despite the team’s lackluster record, the season is not over just because the postseason isn’t in the cards, Bryan Fonseca and Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relay. “Anytime we get (a win) it’s a good thing,” Atkinson said. “It boosts our morale; it confirms what we’re doing.”