Former D-League Canton guard Will Cherry has agreed in principle to sign a two-year minimum deal with the Raptors, a source told Yahoo.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 31, 2014
That’s the Raptors third string point guard right there. The 23-year old attended McClymonds High in Oakland, then played 116 games for the Montana Grizzlies in Division I, before going undrafted in 2013. Then he played on the Pelicans summer league team in 2013, before doing the same for Cleveland this summer. Last season he was with the Canton Charge of the D-League.
His DX profile doesn’t stay much but on the evidence of watching him at Summer League he’s a quick little guard at 6’0″ who can distribute the ball in spots and has that herky-jerkyness about him that is reminiscent of T.J Ford. He’s unlikely to get too many minutes and is here entirely for injury purposes. He does play some aggressive defense and you can see Dwane Casey using him in situations where full-court pressure might be warranted.
His shooting stats won’t blow you away – 45% in D-League and only 30% for three. He’s here for his defense and ball-handling, that’s about it. He averaged 11.6 points and 4.5 assists in 30.3 minutes per game.
If Lucas Nogueira’s contract is bought out, this would bring the Raptors roster to 15.
NBADraft.net sums up his strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: Tough player who prides himself on his defense … Good on-ball defender … Great in the passing lanes, one of the premier theft artists in the NCAA during his time at Montana … Very good nose for the ball, contributed on the glass well for a PG … Played big minutes through most of his career while mostly guarding the other teams best player … Has some penetrating ability offensively … Got to the line quite a bit, aggressive … Cut down fouls by a nice margin as a senior … Showed improvement as a passer, gets his teammates involved … Showed leadership qualities, led the Griz to two straight NCAA Tournament berths out of the Big Sky … Solid quickness with and without the ball … Wiry strong, not afraid of contact, competitor
Weaknesses: After seemingly improving as an outside shooter as a junior, struggled greatly as a senior, particularly from 3 point range … Turned the ball over at a very high rate … Despite the recent success of Damian Lillard, the Big Sky does still tend to bring up question marks surrounding ones level of competition faced … Sat out teams first 7 games with a broken foot, than missed some more time when he reinjured the foot in early March … Relatively small and can have trouble with size, particularly on the offensive end … Has struggled when facing NBA level PG opponents during his time at Montana
It’s a two-year minimum salary deal, so $507,336 and $845,059 (thanks, DanH). No word on whether the second year is guaranteed, highly doubt it. Here are some highlights, courtesy of commenter DDD:
