One of the major questions the Toronto Raptors will have to answer this offseason is which one of their free-agent centres should they re-sign?
After an incredible championship defending season, the Toronto Raptors are now officially in the 2020 offseason. This means it is time to start answering some of the many questions Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster and the rest of the Raptors front office will have to answer.
This season both Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol are unrestricted free agents and both players have proven they belong on this team and can be productive players on a championship calibre roster. However, due to COVID-19, the official salary cap projections are still unknown and reportedly will be lower than the expected $109 million.
This means the Toronto Raptors will have less money than expected to play with this offseason. To make the situation even more complex Fred VanVleet is also a UFA this off-season and will be looking for a significant pay raise. Not to mention the fact that the Raptors are trying to maintain salary cap space for the 2021 free agency to potentially go after a max player such as Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Thus the Raptors will be on a tight budget to save money wherever they can, which means they need to make a decision on which one of their centres do they want to re-sign. Hence why the Raptors have three potential options they could choose from and this piece will break down the pros and cons of each one of their options.
Option A: Toronto Raptors Re-sign Serge Ibaka
One of the more popular options for the Toronto Raptors will be to re-sign Serge Ibaka and let Marc walk in free agency. The main reason why this option is popular is that this season Serge had an amazing break out year where he averaged fifteen points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep.
After signing a three-year contract worth $65 million in 2017 many Raptors fans didn’t know if Serge would live up to that big contract. To his credit, Serge has been fantastic over the last few seasons and has been an amazing contributor as a starter or off the bench.
Especially this past season where Serge became a huge spark off the bench creating scoring opportunities, stretching the floor and really opening up the offence for Nick Nurse. On top of his great offensive production, Serge still provided great defence and rim protection allowing the Raptors to finish the season with the second-best defence in the league.
Probably the best part of Serge’s season had to be his play during the playoffs specifically against the Boston Celtics. There were many moments during the series where the Raptors struggled to score the ball but luckily Serge came into the game and gave the Raptors a huge boost when they really needed it.
Ultimately one can argue Serge was a major component as to why the Raptors were able to push that series to seven games. Overall Serge has had a fantastic season and after a few seasons of consistent improvement and production he deserves to be paid for the amount he brings to this team.
Which brings up the question as to why the should the Raptors re-sign Serge Ibaka over Marc Gasol? To most casual fans they will look at this seasons playoffs and immediately say Serge played better, hence why he should be re-signed. Although the logic for that statement makes sense the incentives for the Raptors to re-sign Serge over Marc run deeper than that.
For starters, Serge is currently 31 years old which makes him four years younger than Marc who will turn 35 in January. This means the Raptors have more confidence signing Serge to a three maybe four-year deal because he will still be young enough to continue to contribute before an eventual decline.
Secondly, Serge is far more athletic than Marc making him the more versatile player and one who fits better with the Raptors other athletic defensive players in Pascal Siakam and OG Annunoby. Finally, Serge has shown over the last two seasons that he is continuing to improve and develop even as he gets older which means if the Raptors re-sign him there is a good chance he can be an even better player for them.
Although there are a lot of positives to re-signing Serge, there are some issues or drawbacks as well. The first one is if the amount of money Serge will demand will be too high for the Raptors to pay. As mentioned earlier the Raptors will have less money to work with this offseason and they need to pay Fred VanVleet, which means if Serge wants one last massive payday the Raptors may not be able to afford to keep him.
The second issue with re-signing Serge is the length of his contract, obviously, the Raptors want as much flexibility as possible to go after Giannis but if Serge wants a long term deal it may be tough to work around.
Finally, the biggest issue will be if Serge can remain consistent on a new contract, although he has shown improvement over the last two seasons, it’s vital for the Raptors that he can be a productive player especially if they do sign him long term.
Overall re-signing Serge seems like the safest option for the Raptors and if he signs for about a two-year deal worth around $20 million annually I think both parties will be happy with that type of deal.
Option B: Toronto Raptors Re-sign Marc Gasol
After this seasons playoffs, it is understandable that this option may not be the most popular right now and Marc is not everyone’s favourite player on this team. This is mainly due to how poorly he performed during the regular season and especially in the playoffs against Boston.
Ever since arriving in Toronto during the 2019 trade deadline, Raptor fans rejoiced at the idea of having a centre who can play make, play exceptional defence and can score from the low post or stretch the floor. To his credit, Marc was very good for the Raptors last season as a playmaker and defender and was pivotal in the championship run.
However, the main concern with Marc has been his drastic decline offensively over the last two seasons. During his days in Memphis Marc was able to consistently put up fifteen points per game as a number one or number two option.
In a Toronto Raptors uniform, scoring has been somewhat of a rarity for Marc. Only averaging nine points per game last season and eight points per game this season. Marc’s lack of scoring ability was very clear in the playoffs against the Celtics, where even against average defenders like Daniel Theis Marc was not able to score and became a liability on offence.
A lot of Marc’s struggles this season can be attributed to a rough season where Marc really didn’t have an off-season last year to recover and suffered through multiple injuries during the year.
However the COVID-19 pandemic allowed Marc to have four months to rest and recover his body before playing in the Orlando bubble, so it is a little concerning that he looked worse even after an extended rest.
Despite Marc’s poor season, he is a still a very intelligent and savvy veteran who is a great defender and is also a great playmaker on offence. His ability to be in the right situations defensively and his passing make him a solid player on a contending team.
Which leads to the question I am sure you all are wondering, why should the Raptors re-sign Marc Gasol over Serge Ibaka? First of all as mentioned earlier Marc is very intelligent and has great basketball IQ on defence which means he knows when to help and where to be in the right situations.
Secondly, Marc is the better playmaker on offence which means he is able to create opportunities for his teammates which is something Serge struggles with from time to time. This allows other players like Norman Powell and Pascal Siakam to benefit off of Marc’s ability to pass which makes the offence better as a collective.
Finally, the best reason to sign Marc is that he would be more inclined to take a discount because he will not have a big market of suitors. As mentioned earlier the Raptors do not have a lot of money to work with which means if they pay Fred VanVleet it makes sense for them to save money with Marc and still have a starting calibre centre for next season. Rather than signing Serge and Fred to massive contracts and limiting their abilities to have max cap space for the 2021 free agency.
Overall re-signing Marc is definitely a gamble for the Raptors especially after his recent playoff struggles, however, if the Raptors can re-sign him for an affordable price and if he can bounce back then re-signing him will benefit that Raptors in the short and long term.
Option C: Toronto Raptors Re-sign Both
Finally, this option is the most difficult, however, it could very well end up benefiting the Raptors to simply run it back with the same players as this past season. One of the best parts of the Raptors is their depth and their ability to change the rotation depending on the match-up. This was especially true for the centre position where Nick Nurse would routinely switch between Gasol and Ibaka to take advantage of a more favourable match-up.
Which is why it is not a bad idea for Masai Ujiri to consider resigning both his centres for at least one more season. Both players are veterans who know the system and have won a championship with the organization which could be an incentive for them to run it back one more time.
Not to mention if the Raptors only re-sign one of their centres, then it leaves them very thin at the position. Young players like Chris Boucher and Dewan Hernandez are still developing and are not ready to contribute yet.
Also, the free-agent market for centres that fit the Raptors are either non-existent or too expensive to sign. Thus by re-signing Serge and Marc the Raptors would be able to maintain depth at a weak position and if done right will still have the financial flexibility they need to go after Giannis in 2021.
There are a few drawbacks to this option, the main one revolves around how much will it cost the Raptors to re-sign both players and have money left to sign VanVleet. Ideally, the Raptors would need to pay both players a combine $20-25 million next season which means either one of them or both will need to take a pay cut to make the numbers work.
The second issue has to do with the length of the contracts, both players are ageing and although they can both be productive players the Raptors need to maintain financial flexibility for the future. The best-case scenario is Masai convinces both players to take a pay cut and sign for one maybe two year deals, to ensure the Raptors will be competitive next season and still maintain cap space for 2021.
Although this scenario sounds great on paper, the reality is it will take a lot negotiations and cap juggling to make all the numbers work and satisfy all parties involved. Overall the Raptors have to make a decision on which one of the centres do they want to re-sign, they definitely have options and each one can benefit the team.
It just comes down to what Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster decide is the best course of action for not only short term success of this team but the long term as well. The one calming factor is the Toronto Raptors have a person like Masai Ujiri to make these decisions and if his history shows us one thing, it is that Masai will make the best decision to win.