Back on January 8, the Toronto Raptors went out and sought one of their own from G League affiliate Raptors 905 to add Canadian Eugene Omoruyi to the main roster with a 10-day contract opportunity.
Fast forward to the conclusion of that 10-day deal, and unfortunately, Omoruyi would not suit up even once during the duration of his Raptors stint.
No one expected Omoruyi to play a ton of minutes, but to not see even garbage minutes at all becomes increasingly confusing; it's hard to understand how a 10-day deal handled like that makes any sense.
Now, Omoruyi's 10-day shot has wrapped up, and the Raptors have gone out to acquire the services of an underutilized, yet skillful big man who's spent time with the Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings: Orlando Robinson.
Raptors sign center Orlando Robinson to a 10-day contract
After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, the three-year collegiate vet at Fresno State would sign a two-way contract with the Miami Heat, where he looked like the perfect "Heat Culture" type player for their roster. Robinson's two-way stint would quickly earn him a two-year standard deal in the 2023 offseason, but his time in South Beach would get cut short as the Heat waived him in July 2024.
Robinson wouldn't be without NBA work for long, though, as he'd sign with the Sacramento Kings in August, but an MCL injury sustained during training camp would largely hamper his tenure.
Sacramento would eventually waive him on January 7, where in six appearances with the Kings, Robinson averaged 2.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. The statistics, while underwhelming, only speak to his limited role, but the room for growth is still there if Robinson somehow finds a long-term spot in Toronto.
So what exactly does Robinson bring to the table?
Well, he's a little slow-footed as a center, and that lack of lateral quickness can be a huge knock on his game. But knowing Toronto once gave a shot to bigs like Malik Williams, Mouhamadou Gueye, and Freddie Gillespie, Orlando Robinson can't be that horrible.
Where Robinson's chances lie are in the Raptors' coaching staff's vision to give him some pathway to shine in the rotation. You'll only know what someone offers on-court based on their last performance, and his sample size in Sacramento failed to impress. That doesn't mean Robinson can't provide something to the Raptors.
Toronto needs an extra push in the big man department, because relying on a small-ball Jonathan Mogbo or another slow-footed big in Kelly Olynyk aren't exactly true centers by nature. In Robinson, he provides another roster element similar to the recently waived Bruno Fernando, who showed promise in spurts but never got the nudge from the coaching staff to warrant a consistent role.
The Raptors shouldn't give Robinson the same cold shoulder, even if it's just a 10-day contract.
The whole point is to experiment and get a glimpse of potential. Toronto doesn't look poised to make much noise this season anyhow, and even though they didn't give Omoruyi any minutes, here lies an actual position of need served by Robinson to give him a fair shot.
A bunch of minutes don't need to be shed from the other guys and sent Robinson's way, but hopefully, much like Chris Boucher, who could provide hustle and grit in seemingly as few minutes as possible, perhaps Robinson can tap into that role too.
Expectations aren't and shouldn't be high on Orlando Robinson, but Toronto should still show some effort to make his time count. That responsibility also lies on ORob's shoulders to look solid in pre-game scrimmages or shootarounds so that his chances of receiving playing time drastically go up.