Toronto Raptors Officially Announce Juancho Hernangomez Signing

Juancho Hernangomez has officially signed his one-year contract with the Toronto Raptors.

After ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on July 26 that Juancho Hernangomez and the Toronto Raptors agreed to a deal in free agency, the team announced on Thursday that Hernangomez has officially signed his one-year deal.

Welcome to the North Side, @juanchiviris41 #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/nW0qXjDw4R

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) July 28, 2022

Hernangomez, 26, has been in the NBA since 2016 and he has bounced around from team-to-team quite a bit, never really being able to find a solidified spot on a roster.

Beginning his career with the Denver Nuggets after being the 15th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by Denver, Hernangomez was then dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2019-20 season. Following the 2020-21 season in Minnesota, he was then dealt again to the Memphis Grizzlies and then traded the same offseason to the Boston Celtics.

Juan Hernangomez began the 2021-22 season with the Celtics and played in a total of 18 games for them, but was then traded to the San Antonio Spurs where he played 5 games and then traded again to the Utah Jazz where he played 17 games. On June 30 ahead of the start of free agency, Hernangomez was waived by the Jazz.

Aside from being an NBA talent, Hernangomez has made a name for himself on the big screen, as he was recently one of the main characters in Netflix’s Hustle, a movie starring Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah and other NBA stars. Sandler produced this film with 18-time All-Star LeBron James.

Now known for his role as “Bo Cruz” from the movie, many were quick to congratulate Hernangomez on his new contract with Toronto, citing quotes from the movie and referring to him as “Bo” on social media. Even Anthony Edwards, who also starred in the film, congratulated Juan Hernangomez and referred to him as “Bo Cruz.”

It’s Up Bo @juanchiviris41 #HustleNetflix https://t.co/KSc3ta3hfV

— Anthony Edwards (@theantedwards_) July 27, 2022

Now preparing for his seventh NBA season with his sixth different team, seventh if you count his short offseason stint with the Grizzlies, Hernangomez will be looking to prove that he can be a key factor coming off-the-bench for the Raptors.

In a total of 40 games between the Celtics, Spurs and Jazz last season, Juancho Hernangomez averaged 3.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and shot 41.5% from the floor in about 11.1 minutes per game. Seeing the most time in Utah, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds on 50.7% shooting in a total of 17 games, 9 of which he started in.