Masai Ujiri is shuffling around the end of the bench.
Two pieces of news to pass along. First, Diante Garrett was waived by the team, along with fellow point guard Dwight Buycks.
The @Raptors have requested waivers on guards Dwight Buycks and Diante Garrett. #RTZ
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) July 19, 2014
Furthermore, Buycks is likely on his way out of the NBA, as a number of European clubs are in hot pursuit.
Soon-to-be FA guard Dwight Buycks has offers from Euro-power teams Olympiacos and Valencia, agent @ChrisPatrickJr confirms.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 19, 2014
First off, this leaves the Raptors’ roster at 14, assuming Bebe Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo sign and play this season, while DeAndre Daniels waits overseas. The Raptors are either in the market for a veteran center, or a third point guard, which Dwane Casey revealed earlier this week.
Second, the finances. Waiving Buycks and Garrett shaves a little over $1.7 million off the books, which puts the Raptors’ even further from the luxury tax. A full breakdown, penned by resident cap (wannabe) expert Blake Murphy can be found here.
Garrett was acquired by the Raptors in the Steve Novak-to-Utah trade. His contract was fully unguranteed, meaning the Raptors could cut him without financial cost. The same for Buycks, although the deadline on his deal becoming guaranteed was tomorrow.
My personal feeling is that the roster is pretty much set. There’s not nearly enough money to bring in an impact free-agent, and quite frankly, there isn’t an open job on the roster that needs to be filled. The Raptors are two-deep at each position, and have a number of interchangeable players who can fill multiple voids.
Therefore, the most likely outcome is for Masai to sign a player to the veteran minimum — a point guard or center — and to keep costs to a minimum. It’s best to keep some leeway from the luxury tax line, maintaining flexibility for a potential trade.
