Bismack Biyombo presents the Toronto Raptors with quite the conundrum this offseason.
The backup center far outperformed his contract and has earned a significant raise, but because the Raptors had him on a one-year deal, they don’t own the requisite Bird rights with which to simply give him a raise and go over the salary cap to re-sign him. Keeping Biyombo, who has played his way into a reported contract floor of $15 million annually (and expectation of $17 million), then requires the Raptors to carve out cap space, a difficult and aggressive suggestion that could fundamentally change how this core looks as a result.
Or…Biyombo could sign below his market value. That’s an asinine thing to ask of a professional athlete, but with all of the lip service given to the value of culture and how much it, combined with winning, contributes to players wanting to stay, maybe slight discounts are reasonable?
Biyombo himself seems to think so. The Unpunkable joined Andrew Walker on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Monday and had this to say:
Honestly, I do (expect to be with the Raptors). We still have some unfinished business. It was so much fun to see the team go from last year to this year making the Eastern Conference finals. Be it would be fun to go even further next season.
…
Things can always be worked out. I’ve said that to my people, I’ve said that to Masai. When the right time comes I’d be open to figuring something out. At the end of the day it’s for fun, not money. It’s not always about money. Money is great, but at the same time I ask ‘How much fun am I going to have?’ The city is great, the team is great, and we’re winning.
As a follow-up, here’s what Biyombo had to say at locker clean-out day on Saturday:
I love it up here, I think I’ve said it before. I would love to be back here. The one thing that I believe is in the office there is the right people and I have the right people in Masai and Dwane, so I’m not too concerned about that. I’ve heard Masai say he’d do whatever it takes a couple of times. At this point I’m just thankful that the organization gave me the opportunity to come here and enjoy a different experience since I’ve been in the league.
Masai Ujiri didn’t say much about Biyombo’s status at his own availability Monday, though he did acknowledge that it could be tough to keep the entire team together:
I don’t know how possible that is, but honestly, it’s out jobs. We have to figure it out. That’s why we’re brought here to do this. Some of the things are more difficult than others. But to me, the approach is, our guys have said that they want to be here. That’s the first step, to build your culture and build your team, and you try to learn how to win and build winning. That attracts players. That makes players want to stay here. That’s the first step. And then, it’s kind of put on my table, and our guys in the front office, to figure it out. We’ll try to figure it out.
…
We’re still evaluating everything. But the basics, I think, when I look at DeMar or Biyombo or whoever it is we are looking at, we’re proud of those guys and want to bring them back. Sometimes those things are challenging and difficult. But again, I say, it’s our jobs to figure it out.
So, look, this is all great. It’s awesome that Biyombo wants to stay and sounds like he’ll take a haircut for the organization. It’s great that the Raptors found an underpriced talent like this and put him in a position to cash in by developing him and getting the most out of him. The reality, though, is that retaining Biyombo is still going to be incredibly difficult, and it may not be in the team’s best interests (more on that another time).
Before you pencil Biyombo in at a discount, consider this: Say he signs for $13 million per-year (below his $15 million floor and $17 million reported projection). That would still require the Raptors to renounce the rights to the rest of their non-DeRozan free agents and trade Terrence Ross to a team that would absorb him into cap space (taking little to no salary back). And then that would be it. They’d keep Biyombo, they’d be able to retain DeRozan, they’d have lost Ross, and every other addition would be small or via trade. Those are possible numbers and maneuvers, but “Biyombo stays, Ross out” becomes your marquee offseason move. Feel however you want about it, but you have to accept that if Biyombo’s in your plans.
And in that case, you’re paying that money for a backup center and occasional starter. He and Jonas Valanciunas don’t fit together on the court particularly naturally, and the hope would be that they can spend a few minutes together here and there based on matchup rather than that they could be a full-time frontcourt. Even if it’s a fair price, the question then becomes whether it’s the best use of (very) limited assets given the team construct.
There’s the option to have Biyombo replace Valanciunas, of course, and Valanciunas could probably command a nice return on the open market…except that the Raptors couldn’t take much salary back if they’re going to use the resultant space on Biyombo. I’m of the believe Valanciunas at $16M is a better piece than Biyombo at $13M, given their respective limitations and ceilings, but maybe that’s a way to better leverage the Biyombo asset and pick up some future assets in the process, if you’re committed to Biyombo and the defense-first approach.
Whatever the case, keeping Biyombo is going to take a lot of sacrifice on the part of both player and team. Your mileage out of each scenario may vary – I’m aware the opinions on Biyombo and Valanciunas vary wildly across the fanbase – and my gut feeling is that he walks, because he deserves the chance to make a boatload of money. This post really serves only to lay out the realities of each avenue, not take a strong stance either way. It’s an unfortunate spot for the Raptors – a good one, given the talent identification and maximization underlying it, mind you – and it may ultimately beg the question: Who’s the next Biyombo on the market?
