Former Toronto Raptors Center Announces Retirement From Basketball

Former Toronto Raptors center Aron Baynes has announces his retirement from professional basketball after a nine-year NBA career

Mar 13, 2021; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Toronto Raptors center Aron Baynes (46) takes a shot during warm ups before the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Aron Baynes is retiring from professional basketball.

The former and briefly tenured Toronto Raptors center is stepping away after nine NBA seasons and a 15-year career, his agent Agent Moldovan announced.

Baynes signed with Toronto in 2021 following the departures of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka in free agency. At the time, the Raptors wanted to keep its future cap space open to potentially pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo and were reluctant to sign Gasol and Ibaka to multi-year deals. When the two former big men left for Los Angeles, Toronto turned its attention toward Baynes on a one-year deal.

At the time, Baynes had been coming off a solid season with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 35.1% from three-point range. Toronto inked him to a $7 million deal, but Baynes was never able to replicate that success.

The Raptors struggled mightily in Baynes' one season with the organization, finishing the year 27-45 as COVID-19 forced Toronto to relocate to Tampa. The Raptors tanked their way to the bottom of the standings and eventually landed the No. 4 pick where Toronto selected Scottie Barnes.

Baynes suffered a career-threatening spinal injury during the Tokyo Olympics following his one season with the Raptors. He did eventually return to the court with the Brisbane Bullets but was never able to get back to the NBA.

The 37-year-old played in 522 games across his NBA career and helped the San Antonio Spurs clinch the 2013-14 NBA championship as a center off the bench.