Reevaluating the Toronto Raptors’ buyout market options

Langston Galloway

Langston Galloway is probably viewed as the prototypical buyout candidate – a player on a bad team, in the final year of his contract, and is maybe a little too old for the Detroit Pistons to consider as a building block despite being only 28.

The Pistons have just bought out Reggie Jackson and traded away Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers. At 19-38, with Blake Griffin out for the year, their season is over and the only way is down. Therefore, it’s time to get out of the Motor City.

That leaves Galloway in an interesting position. He’s had a decent season so far, averaging 10.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, shooting 43-percent from the field and 40-percent from three. Even as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA, the Raptors can’t say no to more shooting – in fact, who really can?

Galloway is a below-average defender, which could affect his stature with a team like the Raptors, but given the talent that would be placed around him – on both ends – he could turn into a nice option off the bench.

His potency as a spot-up shooter shouldn’t go unnoticed. Galloway is in the 87th percentile among all players as a spot-up shooter, averaging 1.20 points per possession on just over three possessions per game. He’s also scoring with a career-high TS% at 58-percent, above the league average.

He could complement a pretty decent bench group already, adding some more shooting outside the likes of Norman Powell, Terence Davis, and Matt Thomas. If Detroit let him go, the Raptors should pounce.