Raptors must wrestle with lower cap
Salary projections suggest securing deals with free agents may be difficult
Lost in all of the picks and trades at the NBA draft was the news that the league’s salary cap projections were going to come in short by a couple of million dollars. This is largely a result of so many playoff series being one-sided and completed in quick fashion.
The longer a series goes, the more money gets generated.
What does it mean for the Raptors? For one, the club won’t be able to pay Kyle Lowry quite as much, and it makes it more difficult for potential Lowry suitors to create the room necessary to sign him.
But it also means it will be harder to stay under the luxury tax if Lowry (the Raptors can still pay him more than anybody else, even on a four-year agreement), Serge Ibaka and potentially others are brought back.
Before accounting for any of the free agents, Toronto’s salary stands at around $80 million. The cap will be $99 million, the luxury tax $119 million. Returning Lowry and Ibaka alone would put Toronto well over the tax.
That’s why the team tried to off-load Jonas Valanciunas (owed $15.5 million in 2017-18) and DeMarre Carroll ($14.8 million) to ease the financial burdens, but those efforts will have to continue heading into free agency, which starts on July 1.
CANADIAN DUCKS FLY SOUTH
Mississauga, Ont.’s Dillon Brooks, who starred for Oregon, went to Memphis with the 45th pick (via trade with Houston). Brooks should be a nice fit with the Grizzlies and seemed like a good value pick.
His teammate, Montreal native Chris Boucher, likely would have cracked the second round as well had his season not ended early due to injury. Boucher signed a partly guaranteed deal with the champion Warriors, a franchise that drafts extremely well.
HISTORY SAYS
The 23rd pick, which the Raptors used on OG Anunoby, has produced some solid NBA players, as well as many who never made an impact.
Tayshaun Prince is probably the best recent 23rd selection. Rodney Hood, Wilson Chandler and Omri Casspi also proved beneficial. Go down a spot and you’ll find the likes of Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry, Andrei Kirilenko and the late Reggie Lewis as 24th picks.
TOO EARLY
Picking draft winners and losers before the rookies have even played a game is somewhat idiotic, but clearly Philadelphia took a major step forward by adding Markelle Fultz. Sacramento finally appears to be making smart decisions after years of bungling. Taking a chance on Harry Giles, once perhaps the best talent in this class, after adding intriguing point guard De’Aaron Fox and older winners like Justin Jackson and Frank Mason, all from the biggest programs in the NCAA, makes a ton of sense.
Charlotte, Dallas, Toronto, Brooklyn and Indiana made nice additions and Minnesota cleaned up in the Jimmy Butler deal.
From not getting enough for the great Butler, to selling a pick during a rebuild and taking Lauri Markannen at seven, the Bulls had a disastrous night.
TOUGH FALL
It was odd to see UCLA centre Ike Anigbogu free-fall to 47th (the Raptors and other teams were said to be big fans), but Draftexpress.com revealed that a medical red flag on his knee crushed his stock.
AROUND THE RIM
The Raptors added North Carolina senior Kennedy Meeks on an unguaranteed deal just after the draft, according to the Vertical’s Shams Charania. Meeks, who won a title and lost a heartbreaker last year in the final, has worked hard on his body after still making the McDonald’s all-American game despite being about 100 pounds overweight.
The strong rebounder could be headed to Raptors 905 in the developmental league.