Javon Freeman-Liberty Continues to Turn Heads for the Raptors
Javon Freeman-Liberty would never admit Tuesday’s return to Chicago was a grudge match for him. The soft-spoken Toronto Raptors guard laughed at the idea when it was first suggested to him last Sunday. Publicly, he said it was just an opportunity to return home. But it’s hard not to believe the 23-year-old is thrilled that the Chicago Bulls let him get away this past summer.
The 6-foot-4 combo guard has been the biggest riser for Toronto in preseason so far. He’s come off the bench and looked like the most NBA-ready of the Raptors’ deep bench players, making impact plays on both ends of the court for Toronto.
“That kid brings it every single day,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajaković after Freeman-Liberty chipped in a team-high 15 points against the Cairns Taipans. “He competes at a very high level, and since he joined us, everything that we asked him to do, he was able to do it, and he really helps us in practices. He brings versatility as well. I think that he can be on the ball, and play off the ball. He's got good size, he can guard positions 1s and 2s. He's doing a really good job, he's a good player.”
This experience has been completely new for Liberty-Freeman, a Chicago native who played his college career at DePaul before going undrafted and joining the Windy City Bulls in 2022. He’d looked good in the G League last year, averaging 18.4 points, 2.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 37.6% from behind the arc on five attempts per game.
Still, though, Chicago wasn’t ready to commit to him and instead opted to sign 24-year-old Turkish-born Onuralp Bitim to a two-way deal, allowing Freeman-Liberty to sign with Toronto following Summer League.
“We felt like (Toronto) was a better opportunity for me,” said Freeman-Liberty, pointing to Toronto’s track record as a strong developmental organization. “I went with it and I'm happy with the decision I made.”
As long as Freeman-Liberty is on a two-way deal, he’s likely to spend most of the year with the Raptors 905 alongside Markquis Nowell, Ron Harper Jr., Makur Maker, and Mouhamadou Gueye. But Toronto is certainly not loaded with guard depth and as last year showed, even two-way players can get called up for significant playing time with the big club.
