The Toronto Raptors have former players scattered across the NBA as their roster has turned over multiple times in the last decade. Now they have one playing in Turkey as well, as former big man Freddie Gillespie has signed with a new team to continue his career.
While their hit rate has decreased in recent years, the Raptors have a strong tradition of developing less-heralded players into NBA talents. Fred VanVleet was undrafted and turned into an All-Star in Toronto; a decade previous, Jose Calderon was a longtime starter at point guard after the Raptors scooped him up. In recent years, the likes of Jamison Battle, Justin Champagnie and Terence Davis were undrafted finds of the Raptors.
There was a brief moment where Freddie Gillespie looked like the next find. The 6'10" center played his final two years of college at Baylor University, a school with no shortage of NBA players to its name. He joined as a walk-on but developed into the starting center and was Second Team All-Big 12 as a senior in 2020.
Going undrafted, Gillespie played in the G League for a few months before the Toronto Raptors scooped him up. He signed a pair of 10-day contracts before agreeing to a rest-of-season deal and played in 20 games down the stretch for the 2020-21 Raptors.
His overall numbers are the epitome of pedestrian, and he specifically didn't have much scoring juice. It was on defense that Gillespie shone, however. He averaged 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals per 36 minutes for Toronto, and despite being an undrafted rookie, he was already league average as a defensive player by most advanced metrics.
The Raptors moved on from Gillespie
At the end of the season, however, Toronto elected to move on. The lack of offensive juice outweighed his defensive potential in the eyes of Masai Ujiri and company, and Gillespie was thrown back into the sea. From there, he returned to the G League, had a cup of coffee with the Orlando Magic, and then made his way overseas to continue his career.
In Europe, while Gillespie has not found a long-term home, he has seen a lot of team success. He played two seasons with Bayern Munich and won a German League championship, then joined Crvena zvezda in Serbia and won the ABA Championship the following season.
Gillespie now has a new home, signing with Turkish club Galatasaray this month. Turkey's Basketball Super League has developed into one of Europe's stronger leagues, and the Istanbul-based Galatasaray has a long history as one of the nation's most decorated clubs.
In recent years, however, Turkey has been dominated by Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes, who have combined to win the last nine titles. Galatasaray has not won since 2012-13.
Gillespie joins a team flush with former college stars, including onetime LA Clippers first-round pick Jerome Robinson. He has a strong opportunity to start for Galatasaray, and at the very least be a strong part of the rotation. His career has departed the NBA, but he is still playing important roles on good teams.
Some of the Raptors' lottery tickets work out in a big way. Others don't lead anywhere special. For Raptors fans who remember Gillespie's brief time in Toronto, it can be fun to track where he has done since. And as of this month, that path has led him to Istanbul, Turkey.