Toronto Raptors: Three free agent big men to consider this offseason

Harry Giles III

Harry Giles III was once the top-ranked recruit in his high school class. However, has been slowed by injuries. Giles underwent surgery to repair both of his ACLs in high school.

Giles would go on to form part of the no. 2 ranked recruiting class in college basketball. Giles decided to commit to Duke and team up with eventual top 3 pick and future superstar, Jayson Tatum.

Unfortunately for Giles, he was limited during his time at Duke. Giles did not make his freshman debut until mid-December. Giles played in only 26 games and looked rusty when he did see game action. Giles averaged 3.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game in his lone season as a Blue Devil.

Despite his injury history, Giles was selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. The Portland Trail Blazers picked Giles no. 20 overall and then traded him along with Justin Jackson to the Sacramento Kings for Zach Collins.  Giles missed his entire rookie season. Instead, the Kings wanted him to rehab and strengthen to prevent further injuries in the future.

Giles played 58 games during his sophomore campaign. He averaged 7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 14 minutes of action. Giles suffered a quad contusion in late March 2019. The Kings ultimately decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season.

A sore knee caused Giles to miss this past summer league and training camp. As a result, the Kings decided to decline Giles’ $3.98 million fourth-year option. Giles is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

With all these injuries concerns, one might ask why anyone would consider signing Giles this summer.

First and foremost, Giles finally appears to be healthy. He missed the first eight games of the regular season and then was out of the rotation. But since December 29th, Giles has played in 31 of a possible 32 games.

Giles has started to show flashes of the player many expected him to become. There was a seven-game stretch between late February and early March where Giles averaged 13.9 points and 7 rebounds per game. The Kings also went 5-2 during that time. It appeared Giles was finally turning the corner.

Giles’ best game came on February 22 in a win against Leonard and the Clippers. He played a season-high 32 minutes while scoring 14 points, along with 12 rebounds, and a block.

Also, Giles is just 21 years old and has excellent size. Giles has identical measurements to Wood at 6-foot-10.5 (in shoes) with a 7-foot-3.25. Giles needs to get stronger, but given his age and injury history, Giles hasn’t been able to spend much time focused on strength training.

The Kings have expressed a desire to retain Giles. But since they declined his fourth-year option, the most the Kings can offer is a contract starting at $3.98 million. That may not be enough to keep Giles in Sactown.

Giles may not completely regain his athleticism. But Giles has an expanding offensive game and is the type of high upside, reclamation project who is worth taking a shot on. Signing Giles to a two-year contract, with a team option or partial guarantee in the second year would be a low-risk move and maintain future flexibility.