Photo credit: KarynStepien.com
Raptors 905 have waived Roger Moute a Bidias and Chris Flemmings, the team will announce Wednesday.
With Kaza Keane and Kennedy Meeks returning from FIBA qualifiers, the 905 had to cut two players from their roster. Keane appeared in both of Canada’s games, scoring three points with an assist in nine total minutes as the Canadians went 1-1. Meeks saw similar time for a 2-0 USA Basketball side, scoring four points in six minutes.
When the 905 lost Keane and Meeks, they scooped up Flemmings and Kuran Iverson from the available player pool and traded for Shevon Thompson to fill an existing open roster spot. It appeared that Flemmings and Iverson would only be short-term stop-gaps, but Iverson impressed in a fairly sizable role over four games, averaging 4.3 points in 12.2 minutes and offering some nice defensive versatility for head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Thompson has been a revelation in his two games with the team, which left a tough decision for the team.
Waiving Flemmings was fairly predictable, even though he appeared in four games with the team. Moving on from Moute a Bidias is more surprising, as he’s a player the team liked from open tryouts, enough to keep him on the roster entering the season despite a knee strain. While Moute a Bidias was said to be progressing well in his recovery, it’s difficult to keep two injured players (Negus Webster-Chan is also yet to play this year due to an IT band injury) on a roster that can shrink as small as 10 when two-way players and assignment players aren’t with the 905.
Wednesday’s moves bring the 905 roster back to the normal formation, with 10 players, plus two-ways and assignees. Here’s how the roster shakes out coming out of the FIBA period, wit the 905 at 4-5:
PG: (Lorenzo Brown [two-way]), Kaza Keane, Kethan Savage
SG: Davion Berry, Aaron Best, (Negus Webster-Chan [injured])
SF: (Alfonzo McKinnie [assignee]), Malcolm Miller (two-way)
PF: Bruno Caboclo (assignee) Richard Amardi, Kuran Iverson
C: Kennedy Meeks, Shevon Thompson, Andre Washington
The 905 are next in action on Friday in Maine.
