The Raptors have waived Freddie Gillespie and Reggie Perry.
Goodbye Freddie. https://t.co/CG7TLMTE1C pic.twitter.com/YIDY4kGRWX
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) October 13, 2021
This is an expected move as Adon alluded to this morning. Gillespie struggled pretty much everywhere this pre-season and his cut continues the sharp downturn in his fortunes after the spurt at the end of last season when he combined with Khem Birch to give the post-Baynes Raptors a sense of respectability. It says something about his performance when the Raptors, who are thin at center, waive a big who was widely expected to compete for a backup role. Gillespie wasn’t exactly a lumbering big who didn’t fit the Raptors length-and-strength approach, but his lack of nose for the ball, suspect hands and an inconsistent touch around the rim was too much for the Raptors to look past. Above is a clip of his last highlight as a Raptors.
He averaged 1 point in 5 preseason games, shooting 33% and averaging 2.8 rebounds in 7.6 minutes of play. As Blake mentions above, he can’t join the G-League for the Raptors just yet.
Perry, another F/C, played a grand total of 13 minutes in pre-season and was never a serious candidate to make the roster. Unless he finds another club, he will likely play with the Raptors 905. As it stands right now, Khem Birch, Precious Achiuwa and Chris Boucher remain the somewhat true PF/C rotation, although given what we’ve seen with the Raptors this preseason they just might start Goran Dragic at C just to fuck with people.
There’s one more cut to be made as the Raptors have 16 player under contract. They also have Justin Champagnie and David Johnson on two-way deals.
