[Murphy] Raptors Notebook: Where Toronto stands after off-season moves

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Recommend everyone read this in full but here's some of the more important/interesting parts:

Scottie's extension:

His 2025-26 salary will be 25 per cent of the 2025-26 salary cap but will jump to 30 per cent if he makes any All-NBA team or wins MVP or Defensive Player of the Year this season. There are no successive levels of achievement and different percentages; it’s 25 per cent or 30, a projected difference of about $50 million based on current cap estimates. It also doesn’t matter if he achieves those accolades in future years; his 2024-25 performance solely dictates what the five-year extension looks like.

Barnes’ contract also contains a 15 per cent trade kicker. If he is dealt at any point during the contract, he’ll receive a 15 per cent bonus — payable by the Raptors, not his new team — though that can’t push him past the maximum salary. (Functionally, this just means hey, if you trade me and the cap has gone up a lot, I get topped up to the new max.)

Quickley Contract:

There are a few small details about Quickley’s massive new deal that lessen the sticker shock slightly, though not enough to change your thinking on the big-picture decisions. The first is that the deal is flat, meaning he earns the same every season, so with the cap projected to rise 10 per cent annually for the foreseeable future, the share of the cap Quickley takes up will decrease each year. In addition, while reported as a five-year, $175-million contract, Quickley’s deal is actually for $162.5 million, with the ability to earn another $12.5 million in “unlikely incentives.”

In CBA terms, “unlikely” just means that the player didn’t achieve those incentives the year prior. However, sources indicated to Sportsnet that the incentives are, actually, unlikely. And so it’s better to proceed with Quickley’s contract as a flat $32.5 million on the books each year.

Koloko situation:

We got some great news this week when Koloko’s representatives revealed he’d been working out with other NBA players in free agent showcases and that he’d received clearance from his doctors to play. To return to the NBA, Koloko still needs to be approved by the NBA’s fitness to play panel (and sign a risk waiver), so he’s not back yet. Still, it’s a great next step for a young player we’re all hoping the best for.

If Koloko gains NBA clearance, he is free to sign with any team. The Raptors waived him, so don’t have any right to him upon return. They can, however, try to sign him themselves; there’s no rule preventing a reunion. The Raptors cut Koloko because they needed the roster spot and he wasn’t cleared to play, not because they don’t believe in the player.

GTJ tidbit:

For this summer, though, Trent and players like him were left to navigate one of the most uncertain off-seasons in memory. The Toronto Raptors were no longer interested in retaining Trent, and with so few teams operating with cap space or even the full mid-level exception ($12.8 million in Year 1), Trent was left to make a difficult choice. In the end, he opted to reunite with Damian Lillard and contend for a championship on a one-year minimum ($2.6 million) rather than taking multi-year offers at the smaller mid-level ($5.2 million in Year 1) that were on the table, according to league sources.

Other interesting notes:

As things currently stand, the Raptors are about $4.7 million below the luxury tax line, assuming unlikely incentives are not achieved. If Vezenkov is bought out, that number could grow. When looking at possible late additions to the roster, that’s the number to look at, even though the Raptors technically have their full mid-level (starting at $12.8 million) available to them. They won’t pay the tax in a non-contending year, not when the tax payouts league-wide are well into the eight-figures if you’re a non-tax team.

The Raptors have 16 players under (non-two-way) contract, and Javon Freeman-Liberty is the only one of those without a full guarantee. He has $100,000 guaranteed, which will increase to $150,000 next week and $800,000 if he makes the opening night roster. His future could depend as much on the Vezenkov situation and the play of the team’s other young guards this summer. He’s a well-liked piece, but as currently constructed, there would have to be one cut made, and it’s usually the guy without the guarantee (especially if the team just drafted two backcourt players and you’re a combo-guard). He’d have immediate two-way interest around the NBA if let go.

Blake Murphy the GOAT.