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Raptors signing and waiving player after 6 hours is very weird

By Mike Luciano

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 22: Bobby Webster General Manager of the Toronto Raptors looks on before his team plays the New York Knicks at the Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 22: Bobby Webster General Manager of the Toronto Raptors looks on before his team plays the New York Knicks at the Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /
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Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors appear to have thrown their hands in the air and given up on the prospect of making a big offseason trade following their inability to get something done for Damian Lillard. It appears as though G League roster gymnastics are at the top of the priority list.

Toronto decided to waive former Exhibit 10 signee Kevin Obanor, a move that may have been expected as he barely got on the floor. Rather than bringing in another camp body with no strings attached, Ujiri and Bobby Webster started and ended a Raptors career in the same business day.

The Raptors agreed to sign Darryl Morsell to an Exhibit 10 contract, presumably to fill up the team’s final camp spot. His tenure was so short that you may have missed the entire thing if you were away from your phone or computer on Friday.

Not even a full day later, Morsell was waived. While this was ostensibly done to make sure that Raptors 905 can retain his G League rights and throw some extra cash his way, it seems just a bit weird that Ujiri is focusing on this when big trades to improve the roster can be made if he looks hard enough.

Masai Ujiri, Toronto Raptors sign and instantly waive Darryl Morsell.

Morsell, who had a very productive college career at Maryland before transferring to Marquette, averaged 7.2 rebounds, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game in Summer League play. His 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game in the G League further cement his reputation as a do-it-all Swiss Army knife.

Names like Buddy Hield and Jrue Holiday are floating out in the rumor mill for an aggressive win-now team (which appears to be what this expensive roster is right now) to scoop up. Has Ujiri just given up on trying to acquire them?

Even if Ujiri and Webster declare themselves out of that particular race, wouldn’t figuring out how to dump Thad Young’s salary or finding a way to guarantee Jeff Dowtin’s deal be a better use of their time than ancillary moves that mostly benefit the G League team?

While Morsell is a solid developmental prospect, even he himself would tell you that things have gone calamitously wrong if he suited up for the Raptors this season. Ujiri needs to look at the possibility of an eleventh-hour trade before the Raptors start filling out ancillary G League spots.

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