The Toronto Raptors may become a tax team depending on how their roster shapes out.
As a rebuilding team, re-signing and keeping young talent is vital. However, this new collective bargaining agreement has made teams more self conscious about long-term commitments.
Although, it is worth noting that Toronto made those commitments to Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley. Another one looms with RJ Barrett too as he will soon become extension-eligible.
Seeing how next season will be a measuring stick year, Raptors president Masai Ujiri would presumably need an extended sample size to truly judge this core. When asked about being a tax team team with an offseason looming, Ujiri was open to the idea, via TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:
“Depends on the kind of talent we have on the team. We’ll see how the draft goes & where we are. Ownership will be fine with it, depending on the kind of talent we have. It’s our job to project where this team is going.”
There are no easy decisions under this new CBA as demonstrated with the Karl-Anthony Towns and Luka Doncic deals. Due to owners and general managers being unwilling to commit long-term money.
Hopefully, Ujiri allows this core ample time to mesh and see what their ceiling as a team can truly be. Once they get at least three or four seasons together then he can reassess.
Masai Ujiri praises Toronto’s bench production this season
At the end of this season, the Raptors evaluated their cost-controlled talent on rookie or two-way deals. There were some bright spots as players got an opportunity to showcase their skills.
Which all tanking teams tend to do when evaluating for next year. Masai Ujiri liked what he saw as he praised the team’s bench production as he spoke to media when the regular season concluded.
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