The Toronto Raptors made very few roster moves this summer, keeping together the core of a team they believe can take a step forward in the Eastern Conference. One player who will not be back, however, is young guard Jared Rhoden.
Down the stretch of last season the Raptors were embracing the tank. There was nothing competitive to play for and maximizing their draft pick made a lot of sense. Somewhat ironically, the Raptors lost early in the season when they were trying to compete but won a number of games down the stretch despite sitting everyone they reasonably could.
One player who got some run in the final weeks of the season was Jared Rhoden, a 6'6" guard out of Seton Hall on his third stop in the NBA. Toronto signed him to a two-way contract in February and he appeared in 10 games.
Rhoden was far from a deep bench afterthought, either. He took full advantage of his opportunity, getting up shots like prime Allen Iverson or retiring Kobe Bryant. In one performance against the Philadelphia 76ers, he put up 25 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Tanking or not, the only players to put up at least that stat line last season were Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic, Alperen Sengun and Nikola Jokic (who did it five times!). That is some impressive company.
In his 10 games, Rhoden averaged 21.5 minutes played despite his lowly two-way status, putting up 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 3-pointers per game. Again, funny-money stats for teams tanking their butts off down the stretch of the season or not, players who average double-digit scoring in the NBA tend to get another chance.
The Raptors quietly said goodbye to Jared Rhoden
Heading into the offseason, Rhoden had a year of eligibility left on a two-way contract and Toronto could have brought him back. He did undergo shoulder surgery in April that will sideline him for a number of months, but the beginning of the season, were he to not be back, is when a team needs two-way players the least.
The Raptors had one two-way spot earmarked for project center Ulrich Chomche, but it would not have been unreasonable to use one to keep around Rhoden and see if he could continue to develop in his role.
Instead, the Raptors made a hard pivot into their overall team identity: length and tenacity. They drafted Alijah Martin out of Florida, one of the toughest defenders in the draft class, in the mold of Jamal Shead a year ago. Then they waived Rhoden at the start of free agency in order to sign Chucky Hepburn, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year who went undrafted and then joined up with Toronto.
Rhoden may not amount to much of anything in the NBA; perhaps Martin and Hepburn do. Either way, someone likely takes a shot on Rhoden later in the season after his prolific stat-stuffing last season. He found success against NBA players, and that means something.
It unfortunately didn't mean enough to the Toronto Raptors.