I have an abiding interest in the fortunes of former Raptors. Some of those who have recently come and gone, have done so again; just with other teams.
Long-time baseball guru Bill James always stressed how important watching the waiver wire can be. Teams looking to flesh out their rosters can sometimes find talent cheaply, simply by waiting for someone else to decide so-and-so isn’t who they are looking for.
In the NBA context, players often get waived for reasons beyond their perceived lack of ability. With the salary cap looming so large over every personnel decision, a useful rotation guy might be dumped because his team needs his cap space to sign a coveted free agent.
I check the wire frequently, and was recently bemused to note how many former Raptors have not been able to keep their jobs. Most of these fellows were cup-of-coffee types, players who were needed in Toronto due to injury.
- Julyan Stone has been dumped by the Chicago Bulls. He, along with Paul Zipser, were deemed expendable as the Bulls were desperate for space to sign Jabari Parker.
- The Kings have waived Nigel Hayes. He appeared briefly for our team last season, and didn’t look out of place. Will we see him again?
- Dwight Buycks is gone from Detroit. He flunked his audition a few seasons ago in Toronto; he took many shots, few of which were makes. I suspect Pistons coach Dwane Casey, who has some decent point guards, decided he didn’t want to bother with him again.
- Bruno Caboclo hasn’t been waived; he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Sacramento Kings. Nevertheless, he’s most unlikely to be in the league this season. Whatever pro hoops career he may create will have to take place overseas.
Penny wise, pound foolish
In a similar vein, I’m not happy to see the news that Malcolm Miller’s two-way contract offer has been withdrawn by the Raptors. We’re talking $ 50, 000. here, which is maybe a third of the team’s Gatorade budget. Yes, he’s damaged goods (he dislocated his shoulder in Las Vegas last week) and yes, he should have signed his contract when it was offered.
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I don’t care. The Raptors don’t want to gain a reputation as an organization which kicks a guy when he’s down. Dumping him in this callous fashion does exactly that.
Back to waivers. The Raptors have never had a discarded player come back to haunt them, though eventually it will happen. The fellows named above aren’t likely to be the first.
Final thought: there’s likely to be a feeding frenzy shortly, as Carmelo Anthony is all but certain to be waived and stretched (i.e., bought out) by the OKC Thunder, a team in salary cap hell. When that happens, plenty of NBA teams will be talking to his agent. Whether the Raptors will be, or should be, one of the suitors, is highly debatable.
I’ll weigh in – Masai Ujiri should make a call, in the interests of due diligence. Since I doubt ‘Melo is interested in coming here, our President will likely be told to go away.