What to Expect as Roster Cuts Near for the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have roster decisions looming with one spot still up for grabs and plenty of options on the table

Oct 11, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Johnny Davis (1) holds the ball as Toronto Raptors center Bruno Fernando (24) defends in the second quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Roster cuts are coming.

The Toronto Raptors have until 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to finalize their roster and avoid taking a salary cap penalty. Teams must have their rosters set by Monday at 5 p.m. ET, but it takes 48 hours for players to clear waivers and therefore a decision will have to be made soon.

By the sounds of it, plenty of discussions are being had across the league. Teams up against the luxury tax are trying to shed salary and there may be a flurry of small trades before Monday.

Toronto has some flexibility to take on salary via its unused mid-level exception, but the Raptors are without a ton of attractive trade pieces otherwise. Bruce Brown Jr. continues to be sidelined following offseason knee surgery and it's unlikely the Raptors part with any of their future assets this season.

So who will make the roster?

Guaranteed Contract

Toronto has 14 players on guaranteed contracts that are all virtually locks to make it through Monday. That's Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Davion Mitchell, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Chris Boucher, Kelly Olynyk, Garrett Temple, and Brown.

If someone is going to be waived from this list, it'll likely be Temple, but that would be a genuine surprise.

Two-Way Contracts

The Raptors currently have all three two-way spots filled by DJ Carton, Branden Carlson, and Ulrich Chomche who is on a two-year, two-way deal. It would be a little surprising if Toronto made a change to any of these spots. The Raptors just spent $2 million to acquire Chomche during the draft and seemed to like Carlson as an undrafted free agent. Carton joined the organization last year and was pretty solid in the preseason.

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

This is where things start to get complicated. Bruno Fernando and Jahmi'us Ramsey are both on non-guaranteed deals and based on preseason usage, it looks like Fernando is the favorite to take the final roster spot. Toronto has relied on Fernando with Olynyk injured this preseason and the organization clearly has a need for a third-string center.

That said, Fernando hasn't been particularly effective this preseason and, if not for Olynyk's injury, he hasn't really done anything to earn the spot. I don't expect Ramsey to make the cut and I'm not so sure about Fernando either. It's possible the Raptors opt to look elsewhere to fill this spot.

Exhibit 10s

Jamison Battle has been among the standouts of the preseason and it's possible the Raptors look to keep him around as a sharpshooting wing for the organization moving forward. He played rotation minutes in the first quarter of Toronto's fourth preseason game but didn't see playing time until the fourth quarter on Friday. If there's a surprise move involving someone, I'd expect Battle to be that player.

If Battle does get waived, there's a reasonable chance he sneaks through waivers and ends up with the Raptors 905 this year alongside Jared Rhoden who will also be waived by the Raptors this week.