While the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline is now in the rearview, the buyout season is only beginning to heat up.
Plenty of potential title contenders will be looking closely at the buyout market in hopes of finding a player capable of shoring up weaknesses or bolstering strengths prior to the playoffs. Up until March 1, players bought out of their contracts can join a roster and still be eligible for post-season participation, meaning time is of the essence.
Typically, the buyout market consists of veterans that find themselves out of a non-contending team’s rotation, or players with sizeable contracts that non-contenders want to cut ties with. For more specifics on NBA contract buyouts, Dave Zarum did a great job tackling them in a piece from last season you can read here.
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With only 26 regular season games remaining, the Toronto Raptors own a 40-16 record and trail only the Milwaukee Bucks for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. It’s no secret the Raptors are all-in on reaching their first-ever NBA Finals — especially given the uncertainty of Kawhi Leonard’s future with the franchise beyond this season — so expect Toronto to be one of the team’s seeking additional firepower down the stretch.
In acquiring Memphis Grizzlies centre Marc Gasol at the trade deadline for Jonas Valanciunas, C.J. Miles and Delon Wright, the Raptors roster currently stands at 10 players (not including Chris Boucher and Jordan Loyd’s two-way contracts), meaning the team will definitely look to grab a player or two off the buyout market to fill current holes in the roster.
With the obvious candidate in Wesley Matthews headed to Indiana, there are still plenty of intriguing names Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri should consider acquiring in the coming weeks, if they become available:
Wayne Ellington
UPDATE: Ellington has reportedly agreed to sign with the Detroit Pistons.
Partially due to the struggles of shooters they expected to be more consistent and reliable entering the season, one of the Raptors’ surprising weaknesses has been three-point efficiency. Toronto shoots 34.5 per cent from three-point range, which ranks 23rd league-wide, while attempting the ninth most attempts from long range at 33.3 per game.
Signing Ellington would improve the Raptors’ efficiency from the land beyond, especially considering the team just parted ways with a fellow sharpshooter in Miles, who shot 46.4 per cent from deep over his last six games (excluding the 24 seconds he played against Philadelphia).
The 31-year-old hits 38 per cent of his three-pointers on 3.8 attempts per game for his career, and he’s shot at least 35 per cent from distance in all but one of his 10 NBA seasons. Ellington isn’t shy when it comes to letting them fly either, having averaged over six three-point attempts per game in each of the last three seasons.
It won’t be easy for Toronto to land Ellington given the amount of teams coveting a player with his particular skillset, though. Detroit has already emerged as the front-runners to sign him, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Jeremy Lin
If the Atlanta Hawks go ahead and waive Jeremy Lin, expect the Raptors to pounce on the opportunity to land him.
With Delon Wright headed to Memphis the Raptors lack point guard depth behind a somewhat injury prone Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, so acquiring an additional player who possesses a strong ball handling ability and can initiate the offence is key.
In just under 20 minutes per game, Lin is averaging 10.6 points and 3.5 assists on 46.5 per cent shooting (32.5 per cent from three-point range) this season. After rupturing his right patella tendon on opening night last season against Indiana, Lin has successfully worked his way back to being capable of providing meaningful minutes as a reserve guard.
Enes Kanter
Aside from shooting and playmaking, the Raptors could be in the market for some interior depth.
While it feels unlikely Enes Kanter would opt to join a contending team like the Raptors to fill a limited role as a third-string big, the Turkish centre would give Toronto an offensive force in the post who’s both efficient and capable of creating second-chance points with his strong offensive rebounding ability.
In 25.6 minutes per game this season, the 26-year-old is averaging 14 points and 10.5 rebounds, with 3.9 of his boards coming on the offensive end.
If the Raptors wound up landing Kanter, deploying him in a post-season series would carry a lot of risk given his glaring defensive deficiencies; he would only be utilized in brief spurts, for specific matchups.
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Nik Stauskas
After being traded three times in the past week, Mississauga, Ont., native Nik Stauskas finds himself back in free agency after being waived by the Indiana Pacers.
Stauskas serves as another option the Raptors’ could look into in hopes of filling the team’s need for an additional long range threat. The former Michigan Wolverine owns a career mark of 34.9 per cent from three-point range, so he certainly fits the bill.
And hey, who doesn’t like a nice homecoming story?
Milos Teodosic
If he doesn’t return to Europe, Teodosic could be a player with enough playmaking ability and shooting touch to entice the Raptors.
Despite his incredible passing ability and court vision, the Serbian has underwhelmed in his brief NBA career in large part due to injuries. After appearing in only 45 games in 2017-18, Teodosic has suited up in just 15 games this campaign.
Teodosic has proven himself as a capable shooter when healthy (37.8 percent on threes since joining the NBA), but gambling on the 31-year-old staying healthy could dissuade the Raptors from pursuing him.
Dark horse buyout candidates for Raptors: Courtney Lee (Mavericks), Robin Lopez (Bulls), Markieff Morris (Pelicans).
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