Can you play for the Raptors? G League tryouts are coming

It sounds like something straight from a Hollywood blockbuster. Going from your day job to the NBA by way of an open minor league tryout is the kind of thing that will make you a sporting legend if you can pull it off. That doesn’t happen in real life, right? Surely there’s no way you can go from mundane work to the Toronto Raptors?

As fantastic and impossible as that sounds, Raptors 905 are once again giving fans the chance to make it to the big leagues. With the squad in Mississauga always exploring every potential angle with which to find quality players, they’re giving ordinary fans with basketball experience the chance to make it big.

Eric Khoury’s G League team is hosting open tryouts at the University of Toronto on September 10. If you’re impressive enough, 905 will invite you to their training camp in October. A maximum of five players from these tryouts can be given an invite to the team’s training camp.

Prospective players must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and willing to pay a $225 fine ($275 if registered after August 31) in order to try out. If those who are interested can check those boxes and hold their own in the competition, the next 905 role player could get the opportunity of a lifetime.

Toronto Raptors: Raptors 905 is hosting open tryouts.

Four NBA players, including former Raptors guard Dwight Buycks, have gotten their start in the pros by way of these tryouts. Jonathan Simmons made the Austin Spurs’ training camp roster and eventually parlayed his success into a three-year, $20 million contract with the Orlando Magic.

Last year, UMass-Lowell star Obadiah Noel tried out for the Raptors and ended up with a semi-permanent role in the rotation. Noel averaged 6.2 points per game in 22 games, which is impressive for someone who quite literally came in a random open tryout.

If the Raptors are nothing else, they are a meritocracy that gives playing time to those who earn it. If you put on a Noel-esque show in these tryouts, Toronto giving you a 905 jersey and letting you fight for your keep in Mississauga could end up coming to fruition.

All of those hours in the gym chucking up shots against imaginary defenders could end with you getting some attention from one of the most well-respected G League franchises in the game. It’s unlikely that you’ll make the roster, but you’ll never know until you try it.