John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Roster Cuts: Where Does Everyone Stand?
With two preseason games in the rearview mirror, the Toronto Raptors are almost halfway through their training camp/preseason schedule. In just 12 days, Toronto's 20-man training camp roster will be whittled down to 15 — excluding the team's two two-way contracts — as they take the court against the Washington Wizards for the regular season opener.
Let's take a look at where everyone stands so far:
Yuta Watanabe
Normally a preseason-ending injury would be a death sentence to a player on a partially-guaranteed deal, but that certainly won't be the case for Yuta Watanabe. Raptors coach Nick Nurse sort of let it slip that Watanabe is going to make the final roster while responding to a question about Watanabe's left calf injury.
"Hopefully he'll be ready for the opener," Nurse said prior to Thursday night's game.
So are you saying Watanabe is on the team?
"Probably," Nurse responded. "I better not say that officially quite yet, but listen, he's played great. He's been in our system and we really like him."
Freddie Gillespie
Preseason hasn't been too kind to Freddie Gillespie whose exciting end to last season has quickly turned into a disappointing Summer League and preseason showing so far. While he's still seeing more game action than the rest of the partially guaranteed group, he certainly hasn't made the most of his playing time, being played off the court twice by Andre Drummond. Toronto certainly has a need for someone with Gillespie's size, but if the 6-foot-9, 245-pound small-ball center can't hold his own against opposing backup bigs, it's going to be very difficult for him to crack Toronto's roster later this month.
Isaac Bonga
Isaac Bonga, pronounced EE-zack Bonga, which I have regretfully been doing wrong so far, hasn't had very much playing time so far in the preseason but in limited action he hasn't been bad. He helped force a turnover in full-court pressure on Thursday night and he's shown off his speed and transition prowess with a pair of end-to-end buckets. We'll see how the final few games go, but things are certainly trending in the right direction for 21-year-old forward.
Reggie Perry
Much like Bonga, Reggie Perry hasn't really played much outside of garbage time so far. It's a little too early to really judge him, but Gillespie's struggles should help his chances of making the squad. At 6-foot-8, 250-pounds, he could fit into Toronto's plans as a third-string big.
Ishmail Wainright
If Raptors media was picking the final roster spots, Ishmail Wainright would certainly make the team. He's one of the best quotes on the team, which is certainly helpful. Unfortunately, he hasn't played at all in the preseason, which can't be a good sign. He does, however, have a team-friendly contract that doesn't fully guarnatee when the season starts, according to The Athletic. So Toronto could keep him around for a little bit longer without taking the financial hit.
Sam Dekker
Well, he's not injured.
"You’ll see him here eventually," Nurse said Thursday. "I think the guys that we’re playing right now are more fighting for rotational spots and things like that but we’ll get to those guys to see if we can balance out who’s going to make the team."
If Dekker can surprise some people in the final preseason games maybe he'll make the roster, but things certainly aren't looking good right now.
Further Reading
Takeaways from Raptors 125-113 loss to red-hot 76ers
Raptors' depth has shown fight with rotation spots still up for grabs
