Photo by MattAzevedo.com
It seems quite a while ago now that the Toronto Raptors signed undrafted free agent Jarrod Uthoff to a training camp deal, giving him a small guarantee to help sweeten a D-League salary as they made him an affiliate player with Raptors 905. Fast-forward a few months, and the organization has moved on from the sweet-shooting combo forward, with the 905 dealing Uthoff to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for Christian Watford and a third-round draft pick.
Uthoff has played well when called upon for the 905, using his length and shooting at the power forward position to help the team outscore opponents by 6.4 points per-100 possessions when on the floor. But the 905 are deep, and Uthoff’s role had been minimized by the presence of two centers, the emergence of C.J. Leslie as a major piece, and frequent assignments for Bruno Caboclo. Uthoff had drawn multiple DNP-CDs and seemed frustrated at times, and the fresh start will probably do him well. He’ll depart having averaged 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in 20.3 minutes while shooting 19-of-40 on threes.
In Watford, the 905 get back a somewhat similar forward, albeit not quite the same shooter. Watford knocked down 35.8 percent of his triples with Fort Wayne this year, averaging 5.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.2 minutes over 20 appearances. It seems likely that Watford will figure in as a depth piece, as head coach Jerry Stackhouse has been looking for ways to find Goodluck Okonoboh some minutes in addition to the team’s other cast of frontcourt players.
By picking up an additional mid-round pick, general manager Dan Tolzman gives himself another piece of currency to deal with ahead of the March 4 trade deadline. A season ago, he turned picks into Davion Berry and E.J. Singler on a very active deadline day, and the 905 will hope to add a similarly substantial piece over the next month-plus.
Even if they can’t, getting Uthoff to a better situation does right by the player without hurting the team’s primary rotation too severely. Winners of seven straight, the 905 sit atop the Eastern Conference with a 19-7 record.
