Toronto Raptors: Freddie Gillespie’s NBA deal is a testament to Masai Ujiri
By Mike Luciano
Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors have remade their roster after an eventful trade deadline, and one of the more interesting additions was picking up former Memphis Hustle star Freddie Gillespie with the intent of trying to fix their hole at the center position. Gillespie has played well in his first NBA minutes, as he surprised Toronto with how quickly he hit the ground running.
The former Memphis Grizzlies prospect has made an instant impact off of the bench, recording averages of 5.3 points, 3.6 rebounds (1.6 of which are offensive boards), and 1.0 blocks per game. Considering how little 10-day contracts typically play in this league, Gillespie has been privy to an unusual amount of playing time.
Nick Nurse threw his new acquisition into the fire, and Gillespie hasn’t looked like an overwhelmed rookie for one second. That poise and production convinced the Raptors to bring him back for the 2021-22 season.
Sources told Shams Charania and Blake Murphy of The Athletic that Gillespie is signing a two-year NBA contract after an impressive stint with Toronto over the last few weeks. Between Gillespie and Yuta Watanabe, Ujiri is making sure that he locks up some of his better developmental prospects for the future.
The Raptors are signing Gillespie to a two-year deal, sources tell me and @ShamsCharania. Made good on two 10-day opportunities, now he'll get a year in the Raptors' developmental system to see where he can go. https://t.co/W1q892PkQk
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) April 28, 2021
Toronto Raptors: Freddie Gillespie contract details
Gillespie will make league minimum for the remainder of the season. For 2021, he will also be on a non-guaranteed minimum, though he will get an extra $50,000 guaranteed if he is on the opening night roster. After that, he will be a restricted free agent, giving the Raptors extra control over his NBA future.
Gillespie's deal structure:
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) April 28, 2021
Rest-of-season (minimum, he'll make about $117K more on top of the $123K he made on 10-days)
2021-22 non-guaranteed minimum, $50K guarantee trigger (unsure of date), fully guarantees if he makes the opening night roster.
He'd be RFA beyond that.
Masai Ujiri helped lure Freddie Gillespie to the Toronto Raptors
Make no mistake about it, Gillespie was a risky signing. The Raptors were in the middle of a very competitive playoff race, and they chose to fix their depth issues by signing a former D-III player who walked on at Baylor with no NBA experience. Furthermore, Gillespie hasn’t spent a day in Toronto’s lauded player development system. Nevertheless, he persisted.
Gillespie had a few set objectives he needed to accomplish with the Raptors. All he had to do was rebound, set good screens, and finish easy looks around the basket, while the rest of his game would be brought along incrementally. Gillespie has accomplished that, giving the Raptors a viable backup center irrespective of his contract situation.
Ujiri should be criticized for picking Henry Ellenson over Alize Johnson, now a Brooklyn Net, earlier in the season, but he has rectified that mistake by adding Gillespie, who will be on the team next year thanks to his tireless motor on the floor.
Gillespie had only a handful of games to prove himself, and he’s turned three weeks of auditions into a deal that will likely see him retained as a part of Toronto’s bench for next season. Considering what a wild-card he was when the Toronto Raptors signed him, Ujiri and the front office deserve a ton of credit for unearthing this diamond in the rough.
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