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Raptors cap update after Baynes and Boucher signings – The Athletic
If the total contracts for Baynes and Boucher seem a bit high, there’s a good reason: Neither deal is guaranteed for more than one year. The second year on Baynes’ deal is a team option, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Boucher’s second season is non-guaranteed, according to a source. As noted, Bembry’s second year is also non-guaranteed. This sends at least two signals.
The first is the more obvious one: The Raptors are prioritizing 2021 flexibility in a major way. They didn’t offer Ibaka or Gasol multiple years, and those players sought better chances to contend for a title with respective L.A. teams as a result. VanVleet’s new contract is structured to minimize his 2021-22 cap hit. Nobody else signed so far has been given guaranteed money for 2021-22 by Toronto, save for Flynn when he eventually signs his rookie-scale deal.
Given that information, it would be surprising to see OG Anunoby sign a rookie-scale extension before the Dec. 21 deadline. The Raptors love Anunoby and will take care of him as a restricted free agent next summer, but all of their moves signal that 2021 is a huge priority, and any Anunoby extension that goes beyond $12 million annually eats into their projected space. Whether that’s a hunt for Giannis Antetokounmpo, another max free agent or just a preference to stay lean in an obvious transition year, everything the Raptors have done to this point lines up with our belief that the 2021 cap sheet will be a major factor in any decisions.
The second is that the Raptors were willing to pay to do that. Baynes and Boucher received deals that, at first blush, seem like slight overpays given the paucity of cap space still out there to chase them. But the Raptors don’t need to save money this season. They were willing to offer Ibaka and Gasol more annually than they received on two-year deals elsewhere to keep the term at one year. Baynes and Boucher were given perceived bumps here for the luxury of only one year being guaranteed here, too.
That each deal has a second year isn’t random. As we’ve seen around the league this week, deals like Boucher’s can be very valuable on the trade market right before it guarantees. It gives Toronto three options next summer: keep Boucher at his salary, shop him as a salary-matching tool for another piece or clear him off the books. My hope, if I’m the Raptors, would be that Baynes’ second year is actually non-guaranteed and not a team option so that he offers the same flexibility. In any case, both players would also represent helpful trade chips if a deal for a higher-priced player materializes during the 2020-21 season.
Why the Raptors were willing to let Serge Ibaka walk – The Athletic
Regardless of whether Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster are right, if this feels like a cold calculation, that is because it is. Again, more philosophically than anything, the refusal to offer Ibaka multiple years in deference to the possibility of going after Antetokounmpo resembles giving up DeMar DeRozan with term for one year of Kawhi Leonard.
Before their exits, the Raptors had treated Ibaka and DeRozan more than fairly. They signed DeRozan to a controversial $40 million contract extension and then a $137.5 million deal when he hit free agency in 2016. When they traded him to the Spurs in 2018, they came to a simple conclusion: The one-year marriage with Leonard was worth the risk considering what they believed their ceiling to be with DeRozan and Kyle Lowry as options 1 and 1a. They were proven right, but even if the Raptors had not won the 2019 title, they would not have necessarily been proven wrong, either. After being swept by Cleveland in 2018, the Raptors concluded they could not win a title in the direction they were going, so they attempted something else for a year. If it had failed, they would again try something else. Hell, it succeeded, and they were forced to try something else anyway.
With Ibaka, the Raptors acquired him from Orlando, where he had gone through a miserable half-season, awarded him a three-year, $65 million contract in 2017 when there wasn’t necessarily a robust market for him, and helped him expand his game. He helped them win a title. Fair is fair. They drew the line at committing multiple seasons to him at age 31 because they concluded it would have made their ultimate goal of winning another championship, this year or down the road, more difficult. Ibaka chose a second year of guaranteed payment over one season. That was his decision to make.
What makes it difficult to accept in real-time is not just the likely hit the Raptors will take in 2020-21, but also between the bond between Ibaka, the Raptors and Toronto. He was a beloved personality, a beloved teammate, a thrower of punches and a valuable contributor, just as DeRozan was for similar reasons. What’s more: It is not as if the Raptors will get the instant gratification of seeing Antetokounmpo as a Raptor, as they did with Leonard, and the opportunity to see whether the decision will pay off, this time around. If you want to focus solely on Antetokounmpo, he will either sign a contract extension with Milwaukee this offseason or hit free agency next year, when the Raptors will not be the only team trying to lure him from Milwaukee. The odds are against the Raptors signing him.
That is what’s easy to miss here: The odds are against all paths leading to a championship. It is very, very difficult to win a title. When the Raptors re-signed DeRozan in 2016, there were complaints about the organization signing up for several years on the treadmill being competitive, but fatally flawed. When they traded DeRozan, there were complaints about the lack of loyalty. That is surely some of what Ibaka is feeling today, with some justification.
Well, Raptors fans cannot have it both ways.
Lewenberg: Toronto Raptors’ frontcourt makeover was necessary but hard to swallow – TSN.ca
Their intentions are to remain competitive this coming season, that’s no secret, but neither is their stake in what comes next – the highly anticipated summer of 2021.
The Raptors were hoping to run it back for the 2020-21 campaign. They wanted to retain at least one of their free agent big men – Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol. But they’ve also committed to maintaining their coveted cap flexibility for next off-season – ensuring that they’ll be able to open up a max slot and be real players in a talented free agent market that could include long-time target and the reigning two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In negotiations with Ibaka and Gasol, it was clear that they had prioritized the latter (long-term flexibility) over the former (keeping them in Toronto). You can see why that wouldn’t have sat well with the veteran bigs, given their respective contributions to the franchise and its championship run. As expected, both players were offered one-year deals.
So, for the second straight year, two key members of Toronto’s title-winning team are headed to Los Angeles. Ibaka is joining Kawhi Leonard with the Clippers, who gave him a multi-year commitment – a reported $19 million over two seasons, with an option to re-enter the market next summer. Gasol is Lakers bound and – at age 35, turning 36 one month into the campaign – he’ll get the opportunity to chase another ring, this time alongside LeBron James.
The Raptors knew this was a very realistic possibility – that their centre tandem could wind up being the casualty of their bold long-term planning. They understood that they might have to take a small step back in the interim in order to take a big step forward. And, make no mistake, that’s what this is.
Toronto will miss Ibaka and Gasol, both on and off the court.
Aron Baynes precisely what Raptors need to fill centre void – Sportsnet
Another added bonus is the fact Baynes can really play.
No, his game doesn’t feature the gorgeous playmaking Raptors fans may have grown accustomed to with Gasol, nor is he anywhere near the kind of athlete Ibaka is, but that doesn’t matter because Baynes will check off boxes as just one player that only Ibaka and Gasol could do together for the Raptors.
Though he’s getting up in age, Baynes has continued to grow as a player and last season he added a pretty reliable three-point shot to his offensive repertoire, shooting 35.1 per cent from deep on four attempts per game.
This is outside shooting comparable to the 38.5 per-cent mark on 3.3 attempts seen from Ibaka last season, and, better yet, Baynes probably plays better defence than Ibaka.
Now, whether Baynes is the same level defender as Gasol is a different question, entirely, but there’s an argument to be made that his defensive impact could be similar to that of the Spaniard.
After Phoenix played its season opener last season, DeAndre Ayton was suspended for 25 games due to diuretic usage, leading to Baynes being named the team’s starting centre and helping the team out to a 6-5 record during the first 11 games without Ayton until Baynes was forced to miss time with injury.
During that stretch of time, the Suns were a little more than five points per 100 possessions better with Baynes on the floor than off it and it’s mainly because he’s an adept defender with quick feet who can hedge out to the perimeter and recover back in time where he can protect the rim thanks to his sturdy frame and smart positioning.
The centre spot isn’t one the Raptors necessarily need a ton of contribution to be coming from. All they need out of there is guys to play good defence, rebound the ball, set strong screens and knock down the occasional three enough to stretch the floor a bit.
Baynes can do all of that, and if he’s able to stay healthy he should fit in with the Raptors rather seamlessly.
What it does on the basketball front is represent a seismic shift for Toronto. Gasol and Ibaka were mainstays of Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship run, Gasol as a savvy, ball-moving veteran who unlocked much of the Raptors offence and Ibaka as a tough, deep-shooting big who has just come off the best season of his career.
Neither Baynes nor Boucher will come close to replicating what Gasol and Ibaka gave the Raptors but they are not stiffs.
Baynes is a tough defender who averaged 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game with Phoenix last season while shooting 35 per cent from three-point range on four attempts per game. He does not have the pedigree of either Ibaka or Gasol but he is a serviceable big man on a team that will be led by a core of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Norm Powell.
While Baynes won’t be a ball-dominant big man, his rim protection and toughness will be sorely needed on a smallish Toronto roster.
Boucher should now get a chance at regular minutes. The lanky centre/forward has shown flashes in very limited use with the Raptors over the last two seasons and the team hopes he will grow into an increased role that is now available to him.
The departures of Gasol and Ibaka end the greatest two-season run in franchise history and each played a huge role.
Centre Baynes agrees to join Raptors, Gasol signs with Lakers | Toronto Sun
Baynes, who Raptors fans should be familiar with given his role with the Celtics the two seasons before his year in Phoenix, is a 6-foot-10, 260-pound behemoth with an improving touch from behind the three-point line.
He was showing some of that in Boston before his departure and in his one year with the Suns shot a respectable 35% from distance.
Baynes also comes with a solid defensive reputation, one earned when each team he has joined going back to his first year in the league with San Antonio in 2012 improved defensively after his arrival.
Only minutes after the Baynes signing was reported, ESPN’S Adrian Wojnarowski chimed in with news of the Raptors futher solidifying their frontcourt with the re-signing of Candian centre Chris Boucher. Boucher has shown steady improvement with the Raptors and was rewarded with a two-year deal valued at $13.5-millon.
While the Raptors did concede a second year on the Baynes deal, the second year is a team option. The hope all along was to sign Ibaka on a one-year deal keeping some financial flexibility for the 2020-21 off-season which many believe will still be a loaded year in free agency.
Only Ibaka can say what tipped the scales in the Clippers favour but if you accept that the Raptors weren’t going to go more than a one-year deal (HoopsHype reported the Raptors offered Ibaka $12-million for the one year) then it’s either the extra year of security the Clippers offered or the chance to play with a championship contender, something the Clippers can still claim even after their early exit this past season.
Report: Raptors re-sign Chris Boucher to 2-year, $13-million deal – Yahoo!
Boucher went undrafted in 2017, and joined the Raptors 905 in the G-League in 2018. From there, the Montreal native developed his skillset, won Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, before getting promoted to a third-string position with the Raptors last season. His playing time and performances were inconsistent, but Boucher had several strong flashes, most notably in the Raptors’ historic 30-point comeback against the Dallas Mavericks where he threw down the game-winning dunk.
Chris Boucher To Return To Raptors | Hoops Rumors
The second year of Boucher’s deal is non-guaranteed, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). This makes sense given the Raptors’ focus on preserving 2021 cap room. The 2021 free agent class looks to be stacked with high-quality All-Star targets. Along these lines, only the first year of newly-signed center Aron Baynes‘s contract is guaranteed. Scotto also mentions that six NBA clubs were interested in adding Boucher this offseason.
The 6’9″ Boucher, a 27-year-old restricted free agent, will be counted on by Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and head coach Nick Nurse to shore up the middle behind Baynes, the presumed starter.
Boucher enjoyed a career year during 2019/20, finally cementing a steady rotation spot during his third NBA season. He more than doubled his previous-best minutes tally, averaging 13.2 MPG across 62 NBA games as the Raptors’ third option at center. He notched averages of 6.6 PPG (double his prior career high), 4.5 RPG, and 1.0 BPG. Boucher also flashed some promise from long range during his two seasons in Toronto. His current career mark is 32.1% from deep on 1.7 attempts per game, below-average for the league but solid numbers for a big man.
The 2020-21 season will be Boucher’s fourth in the NBA. He turns 28 in January, so while there’s room for improvement, it remains to be seen how much he can actually still grow as a player. What he’s shown over the past two seasons is this: Boucher can absolutely wreck the G League, having won both the league’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Awards for the 2018-19 season; and he has utility as a rim-running, shot-blocking, three-point launching power forward. At 6’9” and 200 pounds, Boucher is an elastic man who can cover a lot of ground in a hurry — but he’s not known for his ability to hold onto much space on the court. Last season’s line for Boucher in 13.2 minutes per game across 62 appearances: 6.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, and a shooting splits of .46/.32/.78 from the field, three, and free throw line, respectively.
If nothing else, Boucher offers a nice short term option in the frontcourt for the Raptors. He was electrifying at times off the bench for the team last season, and it stands to reason he’ll be the same again this year. Pairing him with Baynes, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and even Dewan Hernandez will be something to see. And we also know Boucher’s confidence is high and we’ll stay that way.
In the NBA, where everything is constantly up and down, that’s not nothing.
DeAndre’ Bembry brings athletic defence, limited offence to Raptors – Sportsnet
As for what Bembry brings to the team on the floor, he’s a prototypical strong, long and athletic wing who, in four years in the league, has found his niche as a capable perimeter defender.
Bembry has the lateral quickness to keep up with twos and threes and his size bothers point guards should he get switched onto them. Additionally, his long arms, quick hands and gifted anticipation of plays allow him to make plays on balls that others probably wouldn’t attempt.
This past season, he averaged 1.3 steals per game and boasted a strong steal rate of 2.8 per cent.
The weakness in Bembry’s game is he has yet to develop a good outside shot. He made only 23.1 per cent of his deep looks last season, only attempting 65 of them. So he has the D, but without the three finding opportunity to play him may prove to be problematic, particularly because the Raptors play such a spacing-and-movement focused offence.
Still, Bembry’s a legitimate NBA athlete, is already a good defender and, as The Athletic’s Blake Murphy reported, with him potentially coming in at the veteran minimum he’s a low-risk flyer that could develop a jumper with the help of Toronto’s development staff.
Bembry was the 21st pick in the 2016 draft, and spent the last four seasons with the Hawks (with some time in the G-League early on). He’s an athletic, energetic wing who can get into passing lanes and guard multiple positions; he isn’t much of a shooter and has room for improvement as a playmaker, but in those areas he should benefit greatly from some time with Toronto’s player development coaches. He adds depth to the wing and could see time in small-ball lineups with Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby in the frontcourt.
Bembry averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 21 minutes per game last season, shooting 46% from the floor but only 23% from downtown. (Hmm, sounds a bit early-Siakam-ish!) Bembry found himself out of the rotation in the second half of the year, and overall his numbers dipped from 2018-19 (8.4 points and 4.4 boards in 23.5 minutes).
All told, he’s the exact right type of player to take a flyer on for good value in what looks to be a transition year of sorts for the Raptors.
This move likely means the Raptors will not bring back Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who is an unrestricted free agent (and whose bird rights the Raptors do not have).
Send me any Raptors related content that I may have missed: rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
