Just because Masai Ujiri’s annual Giants of Africa camps tipped off in Senegal this week it doesn’t mean the Toronto Raptors President/GM isn’t still busy working on filling out his roster ahead of the 2016-17 season.
On Thursday the Raptors signed a pair of free agents, guard Drew Crawford and centre Yanick Moreira.
https://twitter.com/RaptorsMR/status/763794894255230980
You may recall Crawford, son of longtime NBA referee Danny Crawford, from his performance with the Raptors at the NBA Summer League last month. The 25 year-old averaged eight points in 18 minutes per game and showed off a nice jumper and ability to get to the basket. His best performance in Vegas was a 13-point, 5 rebound, 2 steals, and one block effort in a win versus Golden State.
6-foot-five and a graduate of Northwestern, Crawford averaged 16 ppg with the D-League’s Erie Bayhawks last season before playing in Israel’s top pro league.
Count the Original JYD as a fan:
Here are some more highlights of Crawford (with, might I add, a most excellent choice of background music):
At 6-foot-11 and 220 lb, Moreira has good size and played split time last season between teams in Spain and France. He didn’t put up much in the way of numbers for the Raptors in the Summer League, but managed to grab four boards in 13 minutes of action per game.
In the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Moreira starred for Angola, averaging 17.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. He posted a loud 38 points and 15 boards in that tourney vs. Australia. Check it out:
Per team policy, exact terms of the deals weren’t released, but both should be at training camp with a likely stint with the Raptors 905 D-League team to follow.
