Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

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Report: Raptors bringing Andrew Rowsey to Summer League

And now we're at seven!

The Toronto Raptors were active in the hours after the NBA Draft on Thursday. Not only did they ink Rawle Alkins to a camp deal, they also added Andrew Rowsey to their Summer League roster, according to a report from Ben Steele of the Journal Sentinel.

Rowsey is a name the Raptors have had their eye on throughout the process, as he was in for a pre-draft workout a few weeks back. Here’s what I wrote about Rowsey at the time:

Has Marquette ever produced a player that doesn’t get the “toughness” tag when they enter the draft? The 5-foot-11 point guard, who landed in Marquette for two years after two seasons with UNC-Asheville, continues that trend. He also took a major step forward in his senior year, jumping from 11.6 points and 2.3 assists to 20.5 and 4.8, respectively. Even as a fourth-year player in his second year in the more competitive conference environment, that’s a notable jump. He also rounded out his college career with a 40.8-percent mark on nearly 1,000 3-point attempts, so you can see what the Raptors were looking for up and down this particular workout. A former Big East Sixth Man of the Year and All-Big East Honorable Mention, Rowsey also has the “prove em” backstory the Raptors tend to gravitate towards. Of course, he’s a little small, will probably struggle in traffic at the next level, and will turn 24 before the draft, so he comes with the same caveats every player the Raptors have worked out does, given they don’t have a pick.

While there’s clearly enough to like for a Summer League invite – most notably the elite shooting touch – Rowsey wasn’t on the draft radar for most public sources. Of the 14 draft rankings I used to create a draft database, Rowsey didn’t rank in the top 100 of a single one. That’s not a big deal, and adding to the Vegas squad doesn’t need to follow the list of top available undrafted players. It’s Summer League, where you’re looking to learn more about players and potentially identify training camp invites or Raptors 905 targets. Rowsey could likely slot in as a quality G League point guard, where his size limitations would be a little muted and his solid defense can play up. Smart, careful point guards are helpful there, too, and his tremendous range is such a defined skill that it will always be worth seeing if the toughness aspects can carry over to the next level.

Adding Rowsey brings the likely Summer League roster to seven.

PG: Rowsey
SG: Richardson, Alkins
SF: Anunoby, Miller
PF: McKinnie
C: Thompson

Last year’s full Summer League roster came out late in June, so look for more names in the coming days.