The Raptors have opened up a roster spot after releasing JFL and Vezenkov
The Toronto Raptors have waived Javon Freeman-Liberty and Sasha Vezenkov.
Spicy news! Javon Freeman-Liberty and Sasha Vezenkov are waived by the Raptors. This opens up one roster spot.
— Jay Rosales (@Rosalesaurus) July 22, 2024
JFL was the only Raptor on a partially guaranteed contract and on the books for $100,000 this year. His salary was set to increase to $150,000 tomorrow, $800,000 on opening night, and the full $1.9 million on January 10, 2025. Freeman-Liberty had a fairly good Summer League performance, averaging 14.3 points on 39/36/77 shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals per game.
Javon led all Raptors in Summer League scoring, despite only starting 1 of the team’s 5 games. The problem with being one of the few holdovers (and not being a Kansas Jayhawk alum, apparently) is that the team gave a longer look at the incoming rookies.
Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Branden Carlson (Two-way) started all 5 games. Jamison Battle (who secured an Exhibit-10 contract after a solid start to Summer League), Ulrich Chomche (Two-way), and DJ Carton (Two-way from last season) all had as many starts as JFL.
With the influx of guards and wings added to the roster, Freeman-Liberty was likely to be cut.
Vezenkov’s situation was not so clear-cut. Let’s quickly recap the saga and tenure that was Sasha Vezenkov’s Toronto Raptors journey.
On June 27, mere minutes before the Raptors were set to kick off the second round of the NBA draft, Toronto traded Jalen McDaniels to the Sacramento Kings for Davion Mitchell, Vezenkov, a 2024 second-round pick (hello, Jamal Shead), and a 2025 second-round pick (via the Portland Trailblazers).
For Toronto, getting any return for McDaniels, let alone draft capital, was a huge win for the Raptors because the McDaniels experiment was a complete failure. For Sacramento, they cleared some space from their books, albeit at the cost of a former top-10 pick, two future picks, and a former Euroleague MVP.
Ah yes, the Euroleague MVP. Vezenkov achieved European basketball’s highest individual honor as a member of Olympiacos. He parlayed that success into an NBA contract with the Kings. Unfortunately, the season didn’t turn out as expected for both parties, as Vezenkov requested a trade in early June.
Sasha’s wish for a change of scenery came true, but apparently, not to the right country. Two days later, rumours swirled that Vezenkov had signed to return to Olympiacos. Or did he?
So, according to those in position to know, reports that Sasha Vezenkov is leaving NBA to play in Greece are … not true. The former King has 1yr left on his NBA deal, Raptors control his rights, & have no intention of waiving him & expect to have him in training camp. Carry on.
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) June 29, 2024
The awkward will-he-or-won’t-he between stemmed from a very simple fact: Vezenkov was under contract with Toronto. He couldn’t just sign with Olympiacos while totally neglecting his contractual obligations to the Raptors. So, if Vezenkov were to leave the NBA, he was left with two options:
The problem with option #1 is that Toronto would sacrifice salary cap space to accommodate a player who has given nothing to the organization. The problem with option #2 is that Vezenkov would be giving up a lot of money.
Rock meet hard place.
In the end, the rock won (or maybe the hard place) because the allure of returning to Greece — or repulsiveness of the NBA — made Vezenkov choose option #2. Getting Vezenkov to give up all of his $6.6 million salary means the Raptors owe him nothing and clear him entirely from the books.
Excluding unlikely incentives for Quickley, Barrett, and Poeltl, the Raptors have about $11M in breathing room beneath the luxury tax now.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) July 22, 2024
They could use a good chunk of the mid-level, or could also just minimum/camp battle for final spot to keep the flexibility for in-season.
Toronto now has 1 open roster spot and 1 open training camp spot (likely for an Exhibit-10 and a chance to join the 905). As Blake Murphy notes above, these moves create flexibility for the Raptors. They can sign someone from the surprisingly fruitful free agent class, keep the open spot to take back an extra player in a Bruce Brown deal, or dangle a roster spot for training camp battles.
What would you like to see Toronto do next? Sign Tyus Jones? Bring back Precious Achiuwa or Christian Koloko? Trade Brown and bring in an extra player? There’s a bit of irony if releasing two wings gives Toronto the leverage to trade away the one wing in every Raptors-related trade machine deal.
