Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Okoro, Horford, Matthews, P. Williams, Raptors

October 25th, 2023 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers and Isaac Okoro‘s representatives had “productive” talks ahead of Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline, but the two sides decided it was best to wait until next summer to address the forward’s contract situation, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Sources tell Fedor that the conversations about a new deal for Okoro were in the neighborhood of the deal signed by Mavericks wing Josh Green (three years, $41MM). However, the Cavaliers want to wait and see how the former lottery pick fits with this year’s roster following the offseason additions of Max Strus and Georges Niang, since he no longer projects to be a starter.

Speaking to Fedor on Wednesday, Okoro said he felt like he “should have gotten an extension” but that playing out his contract year won’t affect the way he approaches the season.

“Of course, I wanted an extension, but it happened the way it happened,” he said. “I love Cleveland. I love being here. I love being around the players, coaches, front office staff, trainers. Built great relationships. I don’t take it as a big deal.”

Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:

Celtics big man Al Horford told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t be in the starting lineup when the team’s season tips off in New York tonight, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). That suggests Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will both start alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis. For what it’s worth, head coach Joe Mazzulla said over the weekend that the Celtics will use multiple starting lineups this season, while Tatum said today that the team essentially has “six starters” (Twitter links via Jared Weiss of The Athletic and Bontemps).
Hawks swingman Wesley Matthews underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a mild right calf strain, the team announced today (Twitter link). According to the Hawks, Matthews will be reevaluated in two weeks, so he’ll miss at least Atlanta’s first seven games of the regular season.
While Bulls forward Patrick Williams admitted on Monday that he would “obviously” like to have “a big contract,” he vowed that his lack of rookie scale extension won’t be a distraction at all this season, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Anything personal in my life that I’ve been going through, any time I step between those four lines, it’s gone,” Williams said.
Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca takes an in-depth look at the Raptors‘ roster, exploring the team’s cap and tax situation as well as potential next steps for Jeff Dowtin, who didn’t make the regular season cut.

Raptors Exercise 2024/25 Option On Scottie Barnes

October 25th, 2023 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have exercised the fourth-year option on Scottie Barnes‘ rookie scale contract for the 2024/25 season, the team announced today in a press release.

Barnes’ salary for the 2023/24 season – approximately $8MM – had already been locked in. Today’s move also fully guarantees his $10,130,980 salary for ’24/25, putting him on track to become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2024 offseason.

Barnes, 22, earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2022 after being drafted fourth overall in 2021. He didn’t take a meaningful step forward in his second NBA season, averaging 15.3 points per game for a second straight year while his FG% (.456), 3PT% (.281), and rebounds per game (6.6) all dipped a little. However, he showed more flashes of potential as a play-maker and continued to display his defensive versatility.

The Raptors remain very high on Barnes’ long-term upside, having reportedly made him unavailable when they got involved in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes during the offseason.

Barnes’ rookie scale option was the only one Toronto had to make a decision on by the October 31 deadline, as our tracker shows.

Maxey, Quickley, Williams Among Players Who Didn’t Sign Extensions

October 23rd, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

An unusual number of players who were eligible to sign rookie scale extensions prior to Monday’s deadline inked new deals. A total of 14 players received rookie scale extensions in 2023, blowing away the previous single-year record of 11.

However, nearly half of the 27 eligible players didn’t sign a contract and thus will head to restricted free agency, if they are extended qualifying offers by their respective teams after the season. Otherwise, they’ll be unrestricted free agents next summer.

Perhaps the biggest name on the list is Sixers star guard Tyrese Maxey, though that comes with an asterisk. The Sixers front office and Maxey mutually agreed to put off an extension so that Philadelphia could maximize its cap room next summer.

Immanuel Quickley and Patrick Williams are two of the other big-time names on the list who didn’t reach agreements with their teams. While the Knicks and Quickley’s reps — as well as the Bulls and Williams’ reps — held extension talks as the deadline neared, they couldn’t come to terms on the numbers.

Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn (Raptors), Saddiq Bey (Hawks), James Wiseman and Killian Hayes (Pistons), Kira Lewis (Pelicans), Chuma Okeke (Magic), Isaac Okoro (Cavaliers), Aleksej Pokusevski (Thunder) and Obi Toppin (Pacers) are the other eligible players who didn’t sign extensions.

A full list of the players who did, or did not, sign rookie scale extensions this offseason can be found here.

Raptors Sign, Waive Omari Moore

October 22nd, 2023 at 7:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:58pm: The Raptors officially signed and waived Moore, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

11:17am: Omari Moore will be signed and waived by the Raptors as the last Exhibit 10 player for their G League affiliate, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

Because the move will occur today rather than Saturday, Moore will receive one day of salary while being on waivers for the first day of the regular season, Murphy adds. That will push the team about $12K closer to the luxury tax, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 23-year-old shooting guard was waived by Milwaukee on Wednesday. He signed a two-way contract with the Bucks in July after going undrafted out of San Jose State.

The Exhibit 10 contract gives Moore an opportunity to earn a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Raptors 905.

And-Ones: Zagars, Media Rights, October Deadlines, More

October 21st, 2023 at 8:11am CST by Tristan Tucker

Latvian guard Arturs Zagars is out for at least five months due to a knee injury, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews reports (Twitter link). As detailed in a piece from Eurohoops, Zagars suffered the injury on October 14 while playing in Lithuania’s top league.

Zagars received NBA interest through the summer following a standout FIBA World Cup performance for Latvia. The 23-year-old guard averaged 12.4 points, 7.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game and set a tournament record with 17 assists in his team’s final contest. He ultimately wound up signing a three-year deal with Turkey’s Fenerbahce in September and they loaned him to the BC Wolves of Lithuania, with whom he suffered the injury.

As confirmed by Eurohoops and Urbonas, Zagars suffered an MCL injury and will undergo surgery and continue rehab in Istanbul under Fenerbahce’s medical staff.

There are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

ESPN and TNT are considering signing new media rights deals with the NBA that include fewer games per season, according to The Wall Street Journal (hat tip to RealGM). Such an agreement would allow the league’s two main broadcasting partners to continue working together at an affordable amount. It would also put the NBA in position to explore creating a packge of games for one or more streaming services, with both Amazon and Apple already expressing interest.
The NBA’s extension and roster cut-down deadlines are looming, and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (ESPN+ link) broke down every rookie extension and veteran extension candidate, as well as all remaining roster decisions ahead of the season. Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley are the major rookie extension candidates to watch, Marks notes, though Maxey likely won’t get a new deal. Many of the veterans facing an October 23 deadline for a contract extension, such as the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo, are also unlikely to extend because they can earn more money by waiting until the offseason.
In another piece exploring the NBA’s October deadlines, Danny Leroux of The Athletic further breaks down the upcoming dates to note. Leroux points out the deadline for decisions on third- and fourth-year team options on rookie contracts is also approaching on October 31.
With the tip of the NBA season just days away (October 24), Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype provided a team-by-team look at which players are the most likely to earn consideration for the league’s end-of-season awards. Raptors forward Scottie Barnes gunning for Most Improved Player and Kings guard Malik Monk in the running for Sixth Man of the Year are among Gozlan’s most intriguing picks. Interestingly, Gozlan believes the Pelicans‘ best chance at earning end-of-season recognition is if Zion Williamson enters the MVP conversation.

Atlantic Notes: Barnes, O. Porter, Harden, Beverley, Celtics

October 21st, 2023 at 7:02am CST by Luke Adams

Third-year Raptors forward Scottie Barnes exited Friday’s preseason finale against the Wizards with a sprained right foot and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

The former Rookie of the Year appeared to roll his ankle/foot on a non-contact play, as Esfandiar Baraheni of SDPN relays (Twitter video link). However, after the game, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic downplayed the injury, telling reporters that Barnes is “completely fine,” per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link).

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

After missing most of last season due to a foot injury, Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. returned to action on Friday, playing for the first time since November 14, notes Lewenberg (Twitter link). As Murphy tweets, Rajakovic is enthusiastic about Porter’s fit on the roster, but said the team will be “careful” about how it uses him following his extended layoff, prioritizing his long-term health.
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required) suggests that the Bulls and Heat could be potential trade partners for the Sixers if their James Harden negotiations with the Clippers remain at an impasse. However, Pompey isn’t citing any sources saying that Chicago or Miami is actually talking to Philadelphia, so it sounds more like speculation than anything solid. Harden remained away from the 76ers on Friday and missed the preseason finale due to what the club is calling a personal matter.
Patrick Beverley, who joined the Sixers as a free agent this summer, has taken on a familiar role of veteran leader and defensive spark-plug, Pompey writes in another article for The Inquirer. Beverley’s leadership has impressed his new head coach. “He’s putting in a tremendous amount of work pre- and post-practice,” Nick Nurse said. “He really, really does a good job of organizing, and that’s important. We need a veteran guy that can get us organized, settled down, and all those kinds of things and then he’s a got a little bit on the other end, too.”
In a mailbag for NBC Sports Boston, Chris Forsberg considers what the Celtics‘ regular season rotation might look like, evaluating which players beyond the team’s top eight might emerge as reliable contributors.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Raptors Waive Jeff Dowtin, Justise Winslow, Mouhamadou Gueye

October 20th, 2023 at 9:51pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have waived Jeff Dowtin, Justise Winslow and Mouhamadou Gueye, the team announced (Twitter link via Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca).

Winslow and Gueye were on Exhibit 10 deals and will be headed to the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. They’ll each be eligible for a bonus worth up to $75K if they spend at least 60 days with the 905. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca first reported (via Twitter) that Winslow and Gueye were expected to be cut following Friday’s preseason finale vs. Washington.

As for Dowtin, his non-guaranteed standard contract would have become partially guaranteed for $900K had he remained on the roster past tomorrow’s cut-down day. However, he had an uphill battle to make the team, with 15 players signed to guaranteed standard deals.

Fifteen Raptors got into Friday’s win against the Wizards, and Dowtin wasn’t one of them, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca noted during the game (Twitter link). That made it pretty obvious that he was going to be cut.

It’s unclear what’s next for Dowtin, Murphy adds (via Twitter). The 26-year-old guard spent last season on a two-way contract with Toronto, appearing in 25 games (10.4 MPG). With only two years of NBA experience, he’d be eligible to sign a two-way deal with any team as a free agent if he clears waivers.

The Delaware Blue Coats (the Sixers’ affiliate) control Dowtin’s G League rights, so if another NBA opportunity doesn’t come, returning to the G league could be an option.

The Raptors currently have 18 players on their roster, with all three two-way slots filled. As Murphy tweets, they’ll likely have one more Exhibit 10 sign-and-waive coming on Saturday.

Raptors Sign Justise Winslow, Waive Makur Maker

October 20th, 2023 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

11:44am: Winslow got an Exhibit 10 deal, according to Murphy (Twitter link). As Murphy explains, the plan is for Winslow to start the season with the 905 and – if he shows he’s healthy – get back on the radar of NBA teams.

11:30am: The Raptors have signed free agent swingman Justise Winslow, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Camp invitee Makur Maker was waived to make room on the roster for Winslow, according to Murphy, who confirms that Maker is on track to join the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate.

Winslow, the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, has spent time with the Grizzlies, Clippers, and Trail Blazers since playing in Miami for the first five years of his NBA career.

He played well down the stretch in 2021/22 for Portland after being acquired in the Norman Powell/Robert Covington trade, but his ’22/23 campaign was cut short by an ankle injury, which required surgery in March. Before the procedure, the 27-year-old averaged 6.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 19 games (26.8 MPG) on .409/.311/.714 shooting.

We don’t have any details yet on the terms of Winslow’s contract, but it’s rare for a player signed this late in the preseason to make a team’s regular season roster — especially a team like Toronto, which has 15 players on guaranteed contracts and Jeff Dowtin fighting to supplant one of those players on the 15-man squad.

If Winslow received a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, he would receive a bonus worth up to $75K if he’s waived by Toronto and then spends at least 60 days with the Raptors 905 in the G League. As noted above, that’s the plan for Maker.

Gradey Dick Needs 'Patience, Time'

October 19th, 2023 at 10:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Gradey Dick may be a fan favorite but he’s unlikely to be in the Raptors’ rotation early in the season, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. The first-round pick requires “a lot of patience and time,” coach Darko Rajakovic said. “He’s got to slow down himself before the game slows down for him,” Rajakovic added.

Lowe: Barnes Was "Off Limits" In Raptors' Durant, Lillard Trade Talks

October 18th, 2023 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors made former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes “off limits” in trade talks for Kevin Durant last year and Damian Lillard this offseason, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN. Reports that linked Toronto to Durant and Lillard when they were available strongly indicated the team wasn’t willing to include Barnes in its offers.