- Eric Koreen of The Athletic shares the results of his Raptors fan survey, which reflect the fanbase’s high confidence level in team president Masai Ujiri and suggest that fans would be comfortable offering Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet lucrative long-term contract extensions.
3:00pm: Jackson’s contract is non-guaranteed, a source tells Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link).
2:26pm: The Raptors have signed free agent swingman Josh Jackson, the team announced (via Twitter). While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, it would be surprising if Jackson received a fully guaranteed contract.
The No. 4 overall pick of the 2017 draft after one season at Kansas, Jackson has struggled to gain traction in the NBA after being a highly touted but raw prospect.
Jackson was drafted by Phoenix, where he spent his first two seasons, then was traded to Memphis in the 2019 offseason. Memphis declined the team option on the fourth year of his rookie contract, so despite being a high pick, he only spent three of a possible four years on his rookie deal.
Jackson signed a two-year, $9.77MM contract with Detroit ahead of the 2020/21 season, but his on-court results were a mixed bag. He was in and out of the Pistons’ rotation last season and was later traded to the Kings at the February deadline in the four-team deal that sent Marvin Bagley III to Detroit.
Unfortunately, Jackson played even less for Sacramento than he had for Detroit, appearing in just 12 games for a total of 123 minutes.
In 291 career games, including 92 starts (23.1 MPG), the 25-year-old holds averages of 11.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.8 APG on .416/.292/.680 shooting. Jackson has good size (6’8″, 207 pounds) and above-average athleticism for a wing, but struggles to score efficiently, turns the ball over a lot (two more turnovers than assists in his career), and isn’t a great defender even though he has the tools for it.
The Raptors currently have 17 players on standard deals, including 13 with fully guaranteed contracts, according to our roster count. Jackson will likely be among the group that includes Dalano Banton, Justin Champagnie and D.J. Wilson as players battling for the final spots on the 15-man roster.
While Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes look like safe bets to be part of the Raptors‘ starting lineup this fall, the fifth spot may come down to Gary Trent Jr. vs. Precious Achiuwa. And, as Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes, both players will be motivated to have big years — Trent can become an unrestricted free agent next offseason if he declines his 2023/24 player option, while Achiuwa will become eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2023.
If the Raptors decide Achiuwa’s size makes him a better fit for that starting role, Trent is still capable of maintaining or improving his value while coming off the bench, Koreen argues. As a sixth man, Trent’s usage rate would likely be higher than it would be as a starter. Throw in the fact that he’ll only be 24 years old next summer and projects to be part of a playoff team, and Trent should be in line for a nice payday whether he’s a starter or a reserve in 2022/23.
As initially reported by Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, the Raptors used exactly $1.5MM of their mid-level exception to sign rookie big man Christian Koloko to a three-year contract on Friday. With the second and third years worth the minimum, Koloko’s deal has a total three-year value of $5,239,563.
The first two years of that contract are fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned, with the third year non-guaranteed. Koloko’s salary for 2024/25 would become fully guaranteed if he hasn’t been waived within 48 hours of the 2024 NBA draft.
Here are a few more details on newly-signed contracts from around the NBA:
- The new one-year, non-guaranteed contracts for Bruno Caboclo (Celtics), Chris Silva (Hawks), and Justin Tillman (Nuggets) all include Exhibit 10 language. Silva’s and Tillman’s deals could be converted into two-way contracts, but Caboclo’s can’t, since he has too many years of NBA service to be two-way eligible.
- Yuta Watanabe‘s one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Nets includes an Exhibit 9 clause, but not an Exhibit 10. That essentially means that Watanabe is only in the mix to compete for a regular season roster spot and probably won’t be joining Brooklyn’s G League affiliate if he’s cut (he’s ineligible for a two-way deal).
- Alize Johnson‘s non-guaranteed contract with the Spurs is an Exhibit 9, but not an Exhibit 10. Tommy Kuhse‘s deal is an Exhibit 10, so he could have it converted into a two-way deal or could become an affiliate player for the Austin Spurs.
1:00pm: The Raptors have officially waived Mykhailiuk, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
11:06am: The Raptors are waiving Svi Mykhailiuk, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the veteran shooting guard will seek a “fresh start” with a new club.
Currently suiting up for Ukraine’s national team, Mykhailiuk spent the 2021/22 season with the Raptors after signing a two-year, minimum-salary deal with the team last almost exactly one year ago.
The 25-year-old, who previously spent time with the Lakers, Pistons, and Thunder, played a modest role in Toronto, averaging 4.6 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .389/.306/.865 shooting in 56 regular season appearances (12.8 MPG).
Following his down year, Mykhailiuk exercised his player option for 2022/23, but his spot on the Raptors’ roster for the coming season always appeared tenuous. Toronto has a number of viable candidates for back-end spots on its 15-man regular season squad and has enough breathing room below the luxury tax line to eat Mykhailiuk’s $1,878,720 guaranteed salary and carry another player without becoming a taxpayer.
Once Mykhailiuk is officially waived, the Raptors will have 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with Dalano Banton, D.J. Wilson, and Justin Champagnie also vying for roster spots on partially guaranteed deals.
Additionally, Toronto still has two-way qualifying offers out to David Johnson and Jalen Harris, despite having filled its two-way slots with Jeff Dowtin and Ron Harper Jr. — it remains possible that Johnson and/or Harris will factor into the 15-man roster competition. Gabe Brown is also in the picture, but he’s on an Exhibit 10 contract and would probably need to have a huge preseason to earn real consideration for a regular season roster spot.
If the Raptors officially cut Mykhailiuk this afternoon, he’ll clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, assuming he goes unclaimed.
Kevin Durant reportedly listed Miami as one of his preferred destinations when he demanded a trade from the Nets, but the Heat didn’t make a strong effort to acquire him, Shams Charania of The Athletic said in an appearance on the Stugotz podcast.
Heat officials believed it would cost too much of their roster to trade for Durant, added Charania, who said that the last contact between the two teams regarding Durant occurred either before or during Summer League.
Charania noted that Miami reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season and didn’t see a need for major changes. He pointed to hypothetical trades involving Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro or Adebayo, Max Strus and another player and asked whether that really gets Miami any closer to winning a title.
On top of that, any consideration of trading Adebayo would have been limited by the designated rookie extension rule, which would have prevented the Nets from having both him and Ben Simmons on their roster at the same time. A third team would have been needed to complete a deal, which made the prospects of a trade even less realistic.
Durant also was interested in joining the Suns, but Charania hears that Brooklyn didn’t want Deandre Ayton in return. Ayton became ineligible for a sign-and-trade this summer after Phoenix matched his offer sheet from the Pacers.
Charania said there were opportunities to deal Durant, but no one was willing to meet the Nets’ asking price. The Celtics wouldn’t part with Marcus Smart or Robert Williams along with Jaylen Brown, while the Raptors weren’t willing to include Scottie Barnes in trade talks. Charania said Brooklyn could have made a deal that was heavy on draft compensation with the Suns, Grizzlies or Timberwolves before they sent their assets to Utah for Rudy Gobert, but the Nets were only interested in trades that would keep them competitive.
The Raptors have signed second-round pick Christian Koloko to a multiyear contract, the team announced today in a press release.
According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link), Toronto used a portion of its mid-level exception to give Koloko a three-year contract. He’ll earn $1.5MM in 2022/23 and minimum salaries the following two seasons, Murphy reports.
Since the Raptors already gave Otto Porter Jr. $6MM of their mid-level exception in free agency, using an additional $1.5MM on Koloko will push them over the taxpayer portion ($6,479,000) of the MLE, so Toronto will be hard-capped for the rest of the season, meaning the team will be unable to surpass the tax apron of $156,983,000. Currently, the Raptors’ team salary is below the luxury tax line of $150,267,000, so the hard cap shouldn’t be a pressing issue.
The 33rd pick of June’s draft, Koloko was one of only three remaining players who was drafted, had yet to be signed, and wasn’t expected to play overseas. The other two players are Pelicans forward E.J. Liddell, who unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in Summer League, and Pacers forward Kendall Brown.
The long delay in Koloko’s signing was speculated to be tied to Kevin Durant‘s trade request out of Brooklyn, as the Raptors likely wanted to keep their options open in case of a deal. However, Durant and the Nets are said to be “moving forward” together, and now Toronto has signed its lone 2022 draft pick.
A 7’1″ big man from Cameroon, Koloko most recently played for the Raptors in Summer League, appearing in five games (22 MPG) while averaging 7.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.8 SPG and a team-high 2.2 BPG.
Koloko played three seasons of college ball at Arizona, earning numerous accolades for his breakout junior season in ’21/22, including Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and first-team All-Pac-12. In 37 games (25.4 MPG) for the Wildcats last season, he averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.8 BPG while shooting 63.5% from the floor and 73.5% from the line.
Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica has been ruled out for this week’s World Cup qualifiers due to a calf injury and is considered questionable for the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops details.
Bjelica, who signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce this offseason after winning a title with Golden State, will miss Serbia’s contest against Greece today, as well as Sunday’s game vs. Turkey. Serbia’s EuroBasket schedule will tip off on Friday, September 2 against the Netherlands.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- With the Kevin Durant saga settled, at least for now, John Hollinger of The Athletic considers what leftover offseason business we could see addressed in the coming weeks. The Lakers, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Raptors, and Nets are among the teams that may still have some roster moves to make, Hollinger writes.
- Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report shares scouting reports for his top 15 prospects in the 2023 NBA draft class, breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of players like Texas big man Dillon Mitchell and Duke center Dereck Lively in addition to the usual suspects like Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson.
- Exactly how much does an NBA win cost? Mike Vorkunov and Seth Partnow of The Athletic make an effort to answer that question, with Partnow outlining a “wins/dollars efficiency model” and then explaining why such a model has its shortcomings.
- Katie Heindl of GlobalSportMatters.com takes a look at how the NBA has increased the diversity in its coaching ranks without the need for a rule like the NFL’s “Rooney Rule.”
Within his latest roundup of Donovan Mitchell rumors, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that the Cavaliers have “touched base” with the Jazz about Mitchell in recent days. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 named Cleveland as one of the teams with interest in Mitchell in a Tuesday report.
Begley observes that the Cavaliers have the young players and draft picks necessary to make a competitive offer for Mitchell, but stresses that their level of interest in the Jazz star is unknown.
As I noted on Tuesday, it would be a little surprising to see the Cavaliers make a serious bid for someone like Mitchell after just locking up Darius Garland to a maximum-salary extension. Garland and Mitchell could theoretically play together, but going all-in to acquire another ball-dominant guard may not be the best use of assets for a Cavs team that has a greater need for a two-way forward.
Here’s more from around the East:
- Deividas Sirvydis‘ new one-year contract with the Pacers includes Exhibit 10 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means it could be converted into a two-way deal before opening night or could put Sirvydis in line to earn a $50K bonus if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with Indiana’s G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
- Reacting to the revelation that Jayson Tatum played through a non-displaced fracture in his wrist during the second half of the 2021/22 season, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston observes that Tatum’s ability to stay on the court enhances his value to the Celtics. Since entering the NBA in 2017, Tatum has missed just 25 of 390 regular season games and has appeared in all 74 of Boston’s playoff contests.
- In the second installment of a two-part mailbag, Eric Koreen of The Athletic considers whether the Raptors would have real interest in Myles Turner as a trade target, evaluates what two-way player Jeff Dowtin brings to Toronto, and weighs whether another Canadian city could get an NBA expansion team.
The Raptors have several options with Jalen Harris now that they’ve reportedly extended a two-way qualifying offer, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes in a mailbag column. Harris, who was dismissed from the NBA in July of 2021 for violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program, was reinstated last week.
The QO makes Harris a restricted free agent and gives Toronto the opportunity to match any offer he might receive. He can also be signed-and-traded, although Koreen believes that’s unlikely considering his year-long absence.
The Raptors are likely targeting Harris for their G League affiliate, but first he would have to sign an Exhibit 10 contract or enter the G League draft. Toronto currently has 19 players under contract, and Koreen expects the final spot to go to Arizona center Christian Koloko, who was taken with the 33rd pick in this year’s draft. However, rookie forward Gabe Brown has an Exhibit 10 deal and appears ticketed for the G League. Once he’s waived, there would be an opening for Harris.
There’s more from Toronto:
- Contract considerations may affect how the Raptors utilize Gary Trent Jr. this season, Koreen adds in the same piece. Trent holds an $18.56MM player option for the 2023/24 season, so Koreen believes the team may be reluctant to move him to a full-time sixth-man role, which could reduce his desire to remain in Toronto. Koreen also notes that the Raptors will eventually run into salary issues, so they might not be planning to pay Trent as a starter beyond his current contract. Trent put up career-best numbers in his first full season in Toronto, averaging 18.3 points and 2.0 assists in 70 games.
- Khem Birch expects to be ready for training camp after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in late May, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Injuries limited the 29-year-old center to 55 games last season.
- The Raptors are a “sleeping giant” in the East, according to Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. Golliver notes that the organization is set up well for the future with no bad contracts on its books and all its future first-round picks available. Toronto has two current All-Stars in Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, a potential franchise player in Scottie Barnes and a group of rotation players who are all younger than 30.