With the Toronto Raptors fan base still buzzing from Tuesday’s trade that sent Kawhi Leonard back to Canada’s lone NBA team, this move may fall between the cracks.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Free agent forward Kyle Anderson has agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Toronto Raptors. The 12-year pro now heads north of the border and will be yet another switchable forward in this Raptors team's rotation.​
Free agent forward Kyle Anderson has agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Toronto Raptors, sources tell ESPN. Anderson enters his 13th NBA season providing depth to the Raptors roster, and reunites with former San Antonio teammate Kawhi Leonard. pic.twitter.com/X7LZcV9WyB
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2026
The immediate reaction to this deal is that "Project 6-9" will never die.
If you’re new to the Raptors fan base or simply forgot, Project 6-9 or Vision 6-9 was a term used during the Masai Ujiri era, when Toronto was building a roster of primarily 6-foot-9 forwards around Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam. Anderson fits that typical project 6-9 build (despite being 6-foot-8) as a versatile forward that can dribble, pass, shoot, and defend.
Anderson spent last season with three teams: first with the Utah Jazz, then a brief four-game stint with the Memphis Grizzlies, and finally with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Between the three stops, ‘Slo Mo’ played 43 games, doing a bit of everything, averaging 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 36.4 percent from three in 19.8 minutes per game.
Anderson served both forward spots and even played some small-ball center minutes last season, which could be a role the Raptors use him in following Sandro Mamukelashvili's departure to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Anderson is a perfect fit for the Raptors
The Timberwolves is primarily where we saw Anderson playing some small ball five as his ability to step outside and knock down a jumper gave their star guard Anthony Edwards more space to operate. Mamu played a similar role for the Raptors last season, but the difference is that he wasn’t a plus defender like Anderson is.
Throughout his career, Anderson has been a switchable, versatile defender with the right amount of strength to handle centers and the defensive skills to hold his own on the perimeter. Which makes sense, given that he was drafted by and spent four years with the San Antonio Spurs.
What might be the biggest piece to this sign for me is the Allen Graves connection.
No, they aren’t related, and no, they didn’t go to the same school, but during the pre-draft process, Graves was often compared to Anderson by scouts and others in the NBA Draft world. Bringing in Anderson to help mentor and guide Graves down a path that can help maximize his skill set is a brilliant move by Bobby Webster. It also allows Graves to ease into being an NBA player and not have to worry about being thrown in the fire from day one, as Anderson can play that role as a frontcourt possession extender to start the season.
While I expect most of his on-court mentoring to focus on Graves because of the reasons I just listed, Anderson can also be a locker room leader for this team. When you trade for a player like Kawhi Leonard, who is a superstar still but is also 35, the expectation is that you’re going to compete next season. There’s no making the playoffs and being happy to be there like last season—it’s all about business, and Anderson is a great guy for Darko Rajakovic to have to help hammer home that message.
He’s been around the league, won at a high level, and played with all-time greats. When you’re a team with championship aspirations like the Toronto Raptors now are after the Kawhi Leonard trade, you need players like Kyle Anderson on the roster.
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