3 Fringe Raptors roster players who deserve to return next season

No. 2: Jordan Nwora

Jordan Nwora was essentially a salary-matching throw-in to the Pascal Siakam trade, just as he was a year earlier in the four-team Kevin Durant trade that saw Jae Crowder land in Milwaukee. The 6'8" forward has worked to carve out a niche as a rebounding and shooting specialist as his avenue to staying in the NBA.

The results have certainly been mixed; no one is sleeping on the next All-Star forward by passing Nwora around like a hot potato. For a shooting specialist, Nwora hit just 33.6 percent of his 3-pointers this season, a far cry from the 45.2 percent he hit as a rookie.

If the Raptors are in desperate need to use Nwora's roster spot, he's not worth keeping at all costs. Yet he is certainly a great rebounder for his size and position, he has quick hands to generate steals, and his finishing inside the arc has steadily improved across his four-year career. The shooting is inconsistet, but if it were to steady out at 38 percent or above, suddenly the Raptors or another team would have an extremely valuable role player on their hands.

Nwora is likely available to re-sign for the minimum or something close to it, making the impact of keeping him around very low. He may not be in line for consistent minutes unless the team is struck by injuries again next season (the reason he saw so much tick this year) but if that shot starts dropping again he could easily earn himself a place in the rotation. The risk is miniscule and the upside is real, making Nwora an obvious choice to keep around.