Image via Getty/Steve Russell/Toronto Star
What a ride the last two years have been for the Toronto Raptors. A championship followed by a victory lap that ended with the second-best record in the East in the regular season and an honourable seven-game defeat in the conference semis has given fans plenty to applaud.
Beyond success on the court, many of the players have endeared themselves to the fan base with their off-court personalities, ranging from showing off their culinary skills and fashion sense to betting on their own business ventures or vlogs.
The 2020-21 iteration of the Raptors, though, could look quite different from the team we’ve grown accustomed to watching, so here’s a look into the five main players heading into free agency this offseason.
Fred VanVleet
The rumour mill has been buzzing for VanVleet for some time now, and the latest from the New York Daily Newshas the Knicks set to pursue the man who picked up a Finals MVP vote in 2019 if they don’t pull off a blockbuster deal for Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Chris Paul.
This is hardly a surprise. Along with the Knicks, the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns are also expected to make a run for VanVleet. Of the three teams, the Suns should present the most intrigue to the 26-year-old after their perfect 8-0 run in the bubble along with the chance to play with rising stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. The Pistons and Knicks can offer VanVleet a contract in the neighbourhood of four years and $100 million, but VanVleet’s winning mentality would make that type of choice a bit of a surprise.
Masai Ujiri has stressed the importance of keeping VanVleet in Toronto and there’s no reason to believe he won’t follow through with a strong enough contract offer. The Raptors, of course, also offer the continuity and chemistry of playing with Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, OG Anunoby, and Norman Powell as well as playing for head coach Nick Nurse. VanVleet knows exactly what he’s getting with the only NBA organization he’s represented and should prefer to remain there.
Prediction: VanVleet re-signs with the Raptors for a deal that keeps them candidates for a superstar in 2021.
Serge Ibaka
Some fans have gotten so bored with the lack of NBA news since the season ended that they started rumours Ibaka was on his way out of Toronto because he changed his Instagram bio to remove anything Raptors related.
The truth, as Ibaka revealed himself, is that there was never anything Raptors related in his IG bio to begin with and so nothing was ever changed. The veteran centre has been with the team for three-plus seasons, beginning with 2016-17 when he arrived just before the trade deadline, and has been a key contributor for the majority of his time. A positional adjustment by Nurse the last two seasons moving him to centre has helped a great deal, and with Marc Gasol more likely to leave, it’s imperative that Toronto looks to maintain Ibaka’s services.
At 31, Ibaka is looking at the last chance at a solid longer-term contract and that is the one thing that stands in the Raptors’ way. The franchise is being very careful about it’s cap situation for free agency in 2021 and so cutting into their flexibility by securing both VanVleet and Ibaka could get tricky looking down the line.
Prediction: The love between Toronto and Ibaka is mutual, but a bigger offer woos him elsewhere.
Marc Gasol
All signs currently point towards Gasol remaining in Spain with his family. He was a shadow of himself when the NBA resumed in the Orlando bubble and one can’t help but wonder how much his poor play was influenced by not having his family around him.
If the NBA can return to a semblance of normalcy and allow players to be with their families next season, that may open the door for Gasol to return. While many have had their view of Gasol tainted by recency bias, he can still be a valuable starting centre who anchors the defence on one end and keeps the offence in a flow on the other end while offering floor spacing with his outside shooting.
Gasol would likely be more open to a one-year deal than Ibaka and that would present a solution both sides like.
Prediction: Gasol surprises everyone and re-signs on a one-year deal.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Hollis-Jefferson was issued a challenge at the very beginning of the season by Nurse and responded about as well as anyone could have hoped. Nurse initially not only called him out but other new faces as well, saying that they had yet to come to terms with just how hard the Raptors play.
Sliding into more playing time after injuries to Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka on an early West Coast trip, Hollis-Jefferson showed his worth defending the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard with success. He showed the extent of his defensive versatility later in the season when he made a spot start at centre matched up against Karl Anthony-Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves, finishing with 21 points and six rebounds in a win.
The 25-year-old is a great culture fit as well, proving to be a great teammate over the course of the season and speaking out on the racial injustice suffered by the Black community. He has walked the walk as well, working to provide business opportunities to those lacking the means in his hometown.
Prediction: Hollis-Jefferson can probably get a bit more security in terms of contract length elsewhere and does so.
Chris Boucher
Boucher’s market will be a very interesting gauge of how the league viewed his performances over the course of the 2019-20 season. He assumed a bigger role courtesy of injuries to both Ibaka and Gasol at different points of the season and made several highlight plays in 818 regular season minutes, a massive increase from the 163 minutes of floor time he saw in 2018-19.
Expect the Raptors to extend a qualifying offer—at about $2 million—to keep Boucher a restricted free agent and give themselves the right to match any offer another team makes. Teams will have seen enough of Boucher to be enticed into giving him more playing time, while Toronto should secure one of Gasol or Ibaka’s services while maintaining the mid-level to secure a backup centre option. Where does that leave Boucher?
Prediction: Boucher moves on to a team offering more money and playing time.