After a long wait, Ronald Roberts is ready to begin his Raptors 905 tenure. If things play out like he hopes, it will be a short one.
“Oh, I’m playing,” a beaming Roberts told Raptors Republic about his status for Wednesday’s home game against Idaho.
He’s yet to appear in any of the team’s five games due to an ankle sprain. Prior to that, he missed training camp with the team because he declared for the D-League player pool too late. The 905 had acquired his rights, but Roberts was still deciding whether he’d spend the season in the D-League or take an opportunity abroad. He went the D-League route last season after nearly signing in France and ultimately left the D-League early for a brief stint of dominance in the Filipino PBA.
It’s a tough decision for many players on the fringes of the NBA. Overseas options can be far more lucrative – D-League salaries are capped at $25,500 – but the D-League offers a very quick path to the NBA. Roberts learned that first-hand last season when he was called up by the Philadelphia 76ers in December, though he wouldn’t get into a game during his three-day stint. Faced with more overseas options again this season, Roberts made a last-minute choice to stay stateside, where he’ll always be a phone call away for an NBA team in need of athleticism and energy in the frontcourt.
“I feel like I have a foot and a half in the door,” Roberts said.
He’s not wrong. NBA teams have shown plenty of interest in Roberts since he went undrafted out of Saint Joseph’s in 2014. The 76ers and Heat gave him summer league looks last year, with the Sixers opting to bring him into camp on a partially-guaranteed deal and make him a D-League affiliate player in Delaware, then giving him that brief in-season cup of coffee. The Warriors may have liked him, too, as Santa Cruz acquired his D-League rights at midseason.
This summer, the Raptors brought him to Las Vegas and liked what they saw enough that they gave him a reported $75,000 guarantee on a one-year deal. At the time, head coach Dwane Casey said Roberts had “a shot” to break camp with the team, but the late signing of Anthony Bennett took up the team’s 15th roster spot. Instead, that guarantee will act as a sort of supplement to his D-League salary, though he was not contractually bound to stay with the 905.
Now that he’s ready to play, he stands to provide a major two-way boost for the 1-4 baby Raptors. Head coach Jesse Murmuys seemed excited at getting Roberts into his rotation, even suggesting the 6-foot-7 forward could see time at center now that Lucas Nogueira has been recalled to the NBA. The 905 want to play a defensively versatile system predicated on pushing the transition game off of stops, and the hyper-athletic Roberts fits that mould perfectly. There’s a reason they surrendered a 2015 second-round pick, a 2016 first-round pick, and the rights to Kevin Jones to acquire Roberts’ rights (and a 2016 third-round pick) from Santa Cruz this offseason.
Last season, Roberts averaged 17.5 points and 11.9 rebounds while shooting 68.9 percent from the floor in the D-League. (“Eighteen and 12,” he was sure to correct me when I mentioned his “18 and 10” averages.) He’s also averaged 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds with a 61.2-percent mark from the floor in three summer league tournaments over the last two years, and he’s shot 70 percent over seven brief preseason appearances. To be frank, he’s probably one of the top five players in the D-League once he’s back on the floor, and he’ll be on a very short list of the most likely recipients of a 10-day contract when teams can sign them come Jan. 5.
The oddity of the D-League is that the best-case scenario for the 905 might be that they lose Roberts to an NBA team in short order. Graduating players to the NBA is a mark of strong scouting and player development, and it can reflect well on the organization, even if it means losing an asset in the process. The parent club Raptors have no claim to Roberts and don’t have an open roster spot, so he’s left to audition for 29 other teams while also operating within the context of what the 905 are trying to do. (Should Roberts sign with a team and then be waived, the 905 would maintain his D-League rights.)
Roberts said he’s been trying to help lead a very young team, something he’ll be able to do much more once he’s on the court, and Murmuys is likely to lean on him for easy offense, something this team has been lacking so far. Despite being 24, Roberts is perhaps the most established player on the roster, and he’s one of the few on the team who have done a tour of duty in the league already. That experience as a key contributor and the maturity it brings will be important to the personality of the team, and he’ll help with a few team weaknesses between the lines. His secondary bounce as a helper and rebounder around the rim will help clean up a troublesome area while also aiding the transition offense, and his prodigious offensive rebounding will help secure easy extra opportunities for the league’s worst offense.
Coming out of college, Roberts was given the dreaded “tweener” label, but positional versatility is becoming incredibly important. While he measured 6-foot-7 without shoes at the 2014 Portsmouth Invitational (where he was excellent), he also measured with a 7-foot-0.5 wingspan and an 8-foot-9.5 standing reach. What he lacks in height he makes up for in functional size, and his 40-plus inch vertical makes him one of the most explosive bigs out there. It’s entirely reasonable for Murmuys to see him as a part-time center, especially given the lack of true, traditional pivots in the feeder league.
(Sadly, Roberts told Raptors Republic that he will not participate in the D-League dunk contest this year, even if it accompanies NBA All-Star weekend in Toronto, as expected. “I told myself the next dunk contest I do will be the NBA dunk contest,” he said.)
His game isn’t entirely predicated on out-jumping other players, either. He has great hands and is an adept, if not always willing passer, and he has a bit of a face-up game that he flashed in Vegas, roasting Doug McDermott on several possessions. It will be interesting to see how his jump shot – which can occasionally extend to 18 feet – and his footwork in the post have improved with an offseason of work and two weeks with the 905 staff. He’s added a bit of size that should help him defend the post, and his athleticism and length make him a disruptive face-up or help defender.
The 905 stand to give him the opportunity to showcase whatever he has to offer, as he’ll be one of their primary weapons moving forward. His ultimate NBA role is likely a smaller one as an energy big and rebounder off the bench, but Roberts is focused on helping the 905 win games more than showing off a specific skill for scouts. A rising tide lifts all boats, after all.
If he makes the impact he’s expected to make, he may not be long for The 5ive.
