It’s a big day for Weber State basketball in Toronto. With Damian Lillard and his Portland Trail Blazers visiting, another California-grown Wildcats product is headed to the city, as Raptors 905 acquired Davion Berry from the Maine Red Claws on Friday.
The 905 will send Santa Cruz’ third-round pick in the 2016 draft and the returning player rights to Abdul Gaddy to complete the deal, pending a physical for Berry.
Earlier Friday, the 905 acquired E.J. Singler for a second-round pick, and I explained the move as follows, with the same story applying here:
The 905 have been woefully thin on bodies this week, for good and bad reasons.Ronald Roberts is injured and may still be a week away in his recovery, DeAndre Daniels had hoped to be back by now and has progressed to full practices but won’t play until at least next week, and Greg Smith and Axel Toupane both landed 10-day contracts in the NBA. That left the 905 with eight players ahead of Thursday’s game, necessitating the Toronto Raptors to assign three bodies to help out in a narrow loss.
The 905 don’t get compensation for Smith and Toupane getting called up – they’d receive a top waiver priority if either lasted 21 days in the NBA – and so they’re development is a bit of a Pyrrhic victory. Not only does it see those players gone from the organization, but the team’s expended a second-round pick to acquire a replacement.
That’s fine with head coach Jesse Mermuys, who (correctly) sees the positive as far outweighing the negative. Graduating players to the NBA is a really big deal for a D-League team, and it’s a clear sign that the process in Mississauga is working. That’s important for attracting potential players and offseason prospects, while showing agents it’s a good situation for their clients. And if the NBA expands team control over prospects in the next CBA, the Raptors will have established a working development program.
“It’s only gonna get better,” Mermuys said Thursday. “Already, as an organization, we’re pretty pleased with the things that have gone on, and it’s our job to push and get even more out of it. To me, that’s really exciting. “
The busy day leaves the 905’s draft cupboard a little bare:
- 1st: None
- 2nd: Grand Rapids
- 3rd: None
- 4th: Own, Bakersield
- 5th: Own
This deal also continues the trend of the 905 using the rights they acquired in the expansion draft well, even if only Scott Suggs has turned into a roster player:
- Traded the rights to Ricky Ledo for the rights to Sim Bhullar
- Traded the rights to Earl Clark for a 2016 third-round pick
- Traded the rights to Nolan Smith and a 2015 first-round pick for a 2015 first-round pick and a 2015 second-round pick
- Traded the rights to Kevin Jones, a 2015 second-round pick, and a 2016 first-round pick for the rights to Ronald Roberts and a 2016 third-round pick
- Traded the rights to Dahntay Jones for a 2016 second-round pick
- Traded the rights to Luke Harangody for John Jordan
- Traded the rights to Ty Walker for a 2016 fourth-round pick
- Traded the rights to Abdul Gaddy with a 2016 third-round pick for Davion Berry
In Berry, the 905 land a 24-year-old shooting guard who can also help fill in at the three. Undrafted in 2014, Berry split last season between the D-league and Italy following a summer league stint with Portland. This summer, he appeared at summer league with the D-League Select team, then made a brief stop in South Korea before landing back with Maine. In 46 career D-League games, Berry is averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while knocking down 36 percent of his threes.
The former Big Sky Player of the Year makes it suck that the 905 now have 10 healthy bodies, and so they may not even require three Toronto Raptors to be assigned for their 2 p.m. tip-off on Saturday.
