Raptors Expected to Re-Sign Armoni Brooks as Team Gets Excited About His Developmental Future

The Toronto Raptors are planning to offer Armoni Brooks another contract with the hopes of developing him into a contributor over the summer

Aaron Rose | Mar 25, 2022

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Armoni Brooks is sticking around.

While no official deal has been announced, Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he anticipates Brooks staying with the team following the expiration of his current 10-day contract on Saturday.

It's clear the Raptors are excited about Brooks' future. While his three-point shot hasn't quite been as effective as they'd hoped, he's just 7-for-24 from long distance with Toronto, the organization sees potential in the 23-year-old guard. His defense has been stout for a player who has only been with the team for 20 days now and his quick hands suggest there is potential to be unlocked with a summer working out in Toronto's developmental program.

"I think he's certainly shown us enough to intrigue us for the summer," Nurse said following practice Friday. "For me, I don't want to put everything on our coaches, but we’ve got a guy there that can catch and shoot and he's got athletic ability, then it's up to us to get him to learn our system and play to his capabilities at both ends."

In some ways, Brooks reminds Nurse of Gary Trent Jr. who came in midway through the 2020-21 season and showed a lot of offensive promise without much defensive skill. It was only after the year that Nurse sat down with Trent and stressed the importance of playing tough on both ends and using his quick hands to become a pesky defender. With Brooks, the defensive profile is similar.

Now, having already signed Brooks to a pair of 10-day contracts, Toronto is faced with a decision to either extend the sophomore guard a full contract or offer him a two-way deal and convert Justin Champagnie's deal into a standard contract. Either way, it appears as though the Raptors have found something to get excited about. The three-point shot will come eventually. When the defense does, Toronto will have found another developmental success story.

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