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4 Toronto Raptors who won’t be back next season after playoff exit

By Mike Luciano

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 23: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors leads the team in a huddle (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 23: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors leads the team in a huddle (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors, David Johnson
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 11: David Johnson #13 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /

3. David Johnson

Admit it, some of you forgot all about Johnson. That’s excusable. On top of the fact he was not promoted as heavily as Dalano Banton despite getting picked right after him, Johnson has spent the entire season down in Raptors 905 while Banton and undrafted rookie Justin Champagnie saw some time with the big league club.

Johnson has a whole two minutes to his name in the NBA. While many rookies saw extended minutes during the COVID-19 outbreak in December, Johnson was nursing an injury at the time. He tested positive right after coming back. From the way things appear, Johnson probably is not going to factor into Toronto’s 2022-23 plans.

David Johnson has not impressed the Toronto Raptors.

Johnson didn’t even dominate the G League to the degree that Banton did. Johnson did not turn the ball over frequently, but he averaged just 11.5 points per game on 41/32/81 splits. The lack of quality outside scoring ability was a concern at Louisville. He hasn’t made a ton of strides in that area.

Banton and Champagnie aren’t perfect players, but they showed Nurse more than Johnson did in his limited exposure. With Toronto poised to add more guards in the offseason, Ujiri might decide to cut bait with his second-round pick and start fresh with a new crop of youngsters.