D.J. Wilson Is Impressing Nick Nurse, But Signing the Center Creates Luxury Tax Problems

The Toronto Raptors could certainly use a backup center like D.J. Wilson, but signing the former first-round pick could create luxury tax problems

Aaron Rose | Dec 29, 2021

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The key to sticking around the NBA is always being ready no matter what comes your way.

That's been D.J. Wilson's view of things over this crazy past week. He'd only just arrived in Las Vegas for the G League showcase with the Oklahoma City Blues when he found out the Toronto Raptors were signing him to a 10-day hardship contract. From there, he caught a flight over to Chicago where he prayed he didn't have COVID-19 and could actually sign his contract. When that game was eventually postponed, it was back over to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his family before the Raptors needed him back in Cleveland for Sunday's game. Then across to border to Toronto where he'd spent the past couple of days in isolation ahead of Tuesday's game.

"It’s been a crazy last five to six days," he said Sunday night following his first NBA game of the season. "But it’s an opportunity that we’ve all been waiting for since the start of the season, something like this happening and then us just being ready."

For as bad as things have gotten around the league with over 100 players in COVID-19 protocols this month, the past few weeks have also provided an opportunity for the roughly 50 replacement players that have been given a chance to prove they deserve a spot in the NBA.

And so far, Wilson is making the most of it

On Sunday, he was 6-for-8 with 15 points and eight rebounds in a game in which he met his teammates just over an hour before tipoff. Then on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, in a game in which he strangely wasn't cleared to play until the second half, he was 2-for-3 with nine points, six rebounds, and was plus-12 in 13 minutes.

"That’s two good games for him, he’s shown some rebound, he’s shown some bounce, some IQ, right place, right time type of guy," said Raptors coach Nick Nurse.

More impressive than Wilson's box score stats is what he did in the second half against Joel Embiid who beat up on the undersized Chris Boucher in the first half. Wilson surrendered four points in 12.10 partial possessions on Embiid, per NBA Stats, compared to the 19 Boucher surrendered in 26.90 possessions against the 76ers' giant.

Considering Khem Birch's lingering knee problem that doesn't sound like it'll be sorted out this season, the Raptors could probably use another backup center on their roster and Wilson certainly fits the bill. He's 6-foot-10, 231 pounds, and big enough to slow down the NBA's biggest bigs, but not too traditional that he'd force Toronto to totally reorganize its defensive principles.

The issue is Toronto's luxury tax situation. While the Raptors do have an open roster spot, having waived Sam Dekker earlier in the year, Toronto is $268,420 below the tax threshold, and signing Wilson to even a minimum contract of about $1 million would put them over that line.

Ultimately, signing Wilson — or anyone for that matter — will come down to whether or not the Raptors think they can save money either by trading Goran Dragic (unlikely), asking him to return about $1 million in a buyout later on this year (plausible), or trading someone like Chris Boucher and his $7 million contract this season for someone making less money (plausible). If they think they can clear that space before the end of the season, signing the 25-year-old Wilson while staying under the luxury certainly seems like a wise move.

Further Reading