Toronto Raptors need to cut Terence Davis already

The Toronto Raptors have until November 29 to decide Terence Davis’ future.

I understand that everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty, but the Toronto Raptors are making a mistake by having not walked away from Terence Davis already.

When the news broke on October 28 that Davis had allegedly “hit the victim in the face, and then grabbed broke the victim’s phone,” (via: CBC News) I assumed that the Toronto Raptors would cut Davis immediately. Davis’ charges included: assault, attempted assault, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief, aggravated harassment, and harassment.

Although he entered a non-guilty plea, this type of alleged behavior is sickening. Instead of cutting him, like many expected, the Toronto Raptors released this statement instead:

After three days (!), the team finally addressed the situation but didn’t really say anything at the same time. I understand that this is a police matter, so the team doesn’t need to do more than this, but continuing to keep him employed, means that the organization is OK with domestic violence.

Toronto Raptors should cut Terence Davis

I’m not saying that Terence Davis should never be allowed to play basketball again because of a terrible decision he made, but I do think the Toronto Raptors should have cut his contract right away.

Davis is a great young player and every Toronto Raptors fan (before this incident) would have told you that he was one of the brightest spots last year. After getting selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, fans were highly anticipating continued growth in his sophomore season.

However, if the Toronto Raptors can find a player like Davis, they should be able to replace him just as easily. Despite being a great young player, like I previously mentioned, he’s not a person that’s going to make or break a season. There are plenty of basketball players that can do the same things he did and the fact that the team has yet to cut him is a terrible look.

I can understand the situation from a basketball perspective right now for the Toronto Raptors, but this is more than just basketball. Since Davis is only scheduled to make $1.517M next year, that’s extreme value for the team because his production outweighs that contract tremendously.

However, these charges are so specific that the team needs to move on from him immediately. Even if the charges get dropped (which happens a lot due to a financial settlement), this situation will weigh on Davis’ career forever.

Davis’ court date is December 11, but the team needs to make a decision on his 2020-21 contract by November 29. Even though Terence Davis (the basketball player) is of great value and a solid young player, the alleged actions that Terence Davis (the human) caused to a woman and a child should not be condoned by any sports organization, especially the Toronto Raptors who have a high standard of excellence.

Make the right decision and cut this player, already. Myself and thousands of others may have loved watching Davis dunk over defenders last year, but I’d feel a lot better about the morale of my favorite basketball team if he never wore a Toronto Raptors jersey ever again.