Toronto Raptors: Each player’s likelihood to return next season
By Jeff Borsuk
Serge Ibaka
Serge Ibaka has been one of the Raptors most important players of the campaign. After playing power forward his entire career, he started the season sharing the center position with Jonas Valanciunas. Changing positions revitalized Ibaka’s game and helped him provide a huge bounce-back season.
Ibaka was a large contributor on and off the court. Even though he added rim protection and a jumper from the elbow that couldn’t miss, Ibaka’s biggest value may be as a friend to Leonard.
With all hands on deck to bring back their superstar, it would behoove Ujiri and Webster to surround Leonard with his friends. If that is all Ibaka did next season, it would be worth having him on the roster.
Ibaka is signed through next season at $23,271,605. That’s an extremely hefty contract for a 30-year old center who came off the bench in the playoffs. Trading his deal would be difficult, and negotiating a buyout is unlikely to benefit the team.
This combination makes it a strong likelihood that Ibaka is back for one more season.
Chance at returning – 80 percent
OG Anunoby
OG Anunoby had the unfortunate circumstance of needing an emergency appendectomy on the eve of the playoffs. It kept him out of the rotation for the entirety of the postseason. The timing is only made worse based on his excellent play in the Raptor’s 2018 run. Anunoby shone brightly in the playoffs a year ago and was expected to be an impactful defender off the bench this time around.
Despite being unavailable to play, Anunoby’s reputation and ability are still respected by the team. There were many rumours ahead of the 2019 campaign that he was a desired asset by other organizations. Anunoby, not being included in the trade that brought Leonard to Toronto, was considered as a huge win for the Raptors.
The London, England native still has two years remaining on his rookie contract and will not be a restricted free agent until 2021. This makes it very likely that the Raptors bring back Anunoby next year.