Toronto Raptors: Handing out Summer League superlatives

LVP: Freddie Gillespie

We gave Gillespie tons of praise for his solid play as a high-energy big man off of the bench last season. With the third-string center job almost assured to him at the beginning of Summer League play, Gillespie, unfortunately, stood out as the worst performer in Vegas.

Gillespie is a center that very rarely leaves the paint on offense and shot 52% from the field last year, but he converted on just a pitiful 22% of his shots in Vegas! When you pair that with multiple big defensive breakdowns and foul trouble that often kept him on the bench, Gillespie playing in the NBA next year isn’t a lock.

Freddie Gillespie needs to play better to stick with the Raptors.

Gillespie is going to stick on this roster by finishing off high-percentage looks and protecting the rim. If he is unable to do either of those things against rosters full of players that will likely start the season in the G League, how will he perform against the likes of Joel Embiid?

Gillespie likely wouldn’t be in for a huge workload with the team at full strength, but the fact that he is struggling in the exact areas that he was supposed to provide expertise in has to be rough for Toronto to watch. There is still time for Gillespie to turn things around, but he shouldn’t assume he will have a roster spot come the regular season.