It’s been a long time since we had so many new players on the Toronto Raptors and there is still 3 months before the ball drops on the new season. In what is probably the largest player turn over in a single year in Raptorville, 18 new names are on the Raptor roster compared to how they started the season in 23-24. Can you say rebuild?
Let’s have a look at who’s leaving and who’s coming in. We’re still 90 plus days from the beginning of the season so it’s likely there will be more changes but we might as well see where we are. We’ll start with the players leaving.
Out
Pascal Siakam. Traded to the Pacers for chump change, Pascal was a key component of the Raptors squad that won the championship and probably the Raptors best player at that point. Raptors received 3 first round draft picks, the first of which is Ja’Kobe Walter, and a couple of players they’ve already traded away. Siakam was just too old and expensive to be part of a rebuild and Masai took the best offer he received.
OG Anunoby. Traded to the Knicks along with Precious and Malachi, for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Too often injured, it was time to cut OG loose. Fresh faces, good Canadian boy in Barrett.
Precious Achiuwa. See OG above, some potential that never turned out.
Malichi Flynn. See above, just never worked out.
Jontay Porter. Indefinite Suspension for gambling. Idiot.
Jalen McDaniels. Traded to Sacramento as part of the Davion Mitchell trade, he signed in the 2023 offseason with the Raptors.
Mouhamadou Gueye. Waived. Prospect that didn’t work out.
Jordan Nwora. Free Agent, was ballast in the Siakam trade.
Gary Trent Jr. Free Agent, still on the market but not likely coming back to the Raptors, Trent just didn’t pull his salary weight and was purged as part of the rebuild.
Malik Williams. Free Agent, signed a one year and determined that he didn’t fit in with the plan for the team.
Otto Porter. Traded, often injured and never met the potential he had.
Kira Lewis Jr. Traded, came in from Indy in the Pascal trade and out to Utah with Otto Porter for Olynyk
And with that, the last remnants of the 2019 Championship team are wiped away. What remains and what Masai is building is the core around franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes.
In
And this list does not contain the names of players who became Raptors after the beginning of the season but are no longer with the club, like Kira Lewis Jr. and Jordan Nwora.Credit to Wikipedia for these brief bios.
RJ Barrett – Rowan Alexander “RJ” Barrett Jr. (born June 14, 2000) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected third overall in the 2019 NBA draft by the New York Knicks after one year with the Duke Blue Devils.
Immanuel Quickley – Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (born June 17, 1999). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft.
Bruce Brown – Bruce Brown Jr. (born August 15, 1996). He played college basketball for the Miami Hurricanes and was selected 42nd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2018 NBA draft. He has also played for the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Indiana Pacers. In 2023, he was a key contributor of the Nuggets’ championship run off the bench. Despite being undersized, Brown plays the small forward and both guard positions.
Gradey Dick – Gradey Reed Dick (born November 20, 2003) He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2022 class. A small forward, in 2022, Dick was named the boys Gatorade National Player of the Year.
Ochai Agbaji – Ochai Young Agbaji (born April 20, 2000). As a senior at the University of Kansas, Agbaji was named a consensus first-team All-American and voted the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2022. He led the Jayhawks to a national championship and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player (MOP).
Agbaji was drafted as the 14th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he was traded to the Jazz in September before playing a regular-season game in Cleveland. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2024.
- J. Carton – Desi Justice Carton (born August 5, 2000) is on a two-way contract with Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Marquette Golden Eagles.
Davion Mitchell – Davion De’Monte Earl Mitchell born September 5, 1998) He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers and the Baylor Bears. He was taken ninth overall in the 2021 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings.
Sasha Vezenkov – Aleksandar Vezenkov born 6 August 1995, most commonly known as Sasha Vezenkov, is a Bulgarian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Ulrich Chomche – Ulrich Kamka Chomche (born 30 December 2005) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player At 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), he plays the center and power forward positions.
Graduated from the NBA Academy Africa, Chomche is the first former Basketball Africa League (BAL) player to be drafted into the NBA. He has been labeled by ESPN as the best Cameroonian prospect of his generation, and the best since Joel Embiid.[1]
Branden Carlson – Branden Carlson (born June 14, 1999), on a two-way contract with the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes of the Pac-12 Conference.
Malik Williams – Malik Williams (born August 26, 1998). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.
Jahmi’us Ramsey – Jahmi’us Ramsey (born June 9, 2001) He played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Justise Winslow – Justise Jon Winslow (born March 26, 1996) He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 2015 NCAA championship.
Kelly Olynyk – Kelly Tyler Olynyk (/oʊˈlɪnɪk/ oh-LIN-ik; born April 19, 1991) . He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, where he earned NCAA All-American honours in 2013.
After forgoing his senior year of college basketball, Olynyk was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2013 NBA draft, before being immediately traded to the Boston Celtics. In July 2017, he signed with the Miami Heat, with whom he reached the NBA Finals in 2020. In March 2021, Olynyk was traded to the Houston Rockets. He signed with the Pistons in August of the same year. He was traded to the Utah Jazz in 2022 and to the Toronto Raptors in 2024.
Ja’Kobe Walter – Ja’Kobe Amare Walter (born September 4, 2004) He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class.
Jamal Shead – Jamal Daniel Shead (/ʃɛd/ SHED; born July 24, 2002) He played college basketball for the Houston Cougars.
Jonathon Mogbo – Jonathan Michael Mogbo (/ˈmoʊboʊ/ MOH-boh; born October 29, 2001) He played college basketball for the Independence CC Pirates, the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen, the Missouri State Bears, and the San Francisco Dons.
Now not all of these players will be with the team come Oct 31st, some will stick around and play for the 905, and the remainder will look for work elsewhere. Stayed tuned. In my next post I’ll discuss which of these players are likely to stick around and which ones Masai really wants to stick around.