Category: Toronto Raptors Blog

The Raptors have signed Canadian free-agent guard Brady Heslip.

Toronto will open training camp September 27 in Vancouver. The roster stands at 20 players.

Heslip, a native of Burlington, Ontario and a member of the Canadian Men’s Senior National Team, spent the 2015-16 season with Acqua Vitasnella Cantu (Serie-A) in Italy, averaging 12.7 points and shooting .455 from three-point range in 29 games.

He averaged 13.0 points and 1.2 rebounds for Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and 10.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City.
Heslip was selected 11th overall by Reno in the 2014 NBA D-League Draft and averaged 24.5 points in 20 games with the Bighorns. He set an NBA D-League record by making 13 three-point field goals November 29, 2014 at Idaho as part of a 45-point performance.

The Raptors signed forward E.J. Singler today. He is the younger brother of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kyle Singler.

Until we hear otherwise, we will assume this is a non-guaranteed deal that merely brings E.J. to Raptors training camp.

E.J., who is 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, played with the Raptors’ entry in Summer League 2016 in Las Vegas, where he averaged 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 19.3 minutes in five games (four starts). He shot .480 (12-for-25) from the field and .412 (7-for-17) from three-point range.

Singler split last season between Raptors 905 and the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League. He was acquired from the Stampede on March 4 and averaged 14.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 30.9 minutes in 10 games with Raptors 905.

Singler owns career D-league averages of 10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 25.4 minutes in 68 games (12 starts) with Idaho (2013-14, 2015-16) and Raptors 905. He won the 2014 Boost Mobile NBA D-League Three-Point Competition.

Singler played four seasons at Oregon (2009-13), averaging 10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 29.3 minutes. He became just the eighth player in school history to total 1,500 career points and 500 career rebounds. Singler finished his collegiate career as the winningest player in school history with 89 victories.

The Raptors on Friday signed President Masai Ujiri to a multi-year contract extension and promoted Jeff Weltman to general manager and Bobby Webster to assistant general manager/vice-president basketball strategy. Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as president of the club.

“I am grateful to the Board and Mr. Tanenbaum for the opportunity to continue our progress to build the Raptors into one of the top franchises in the NBA,” said Ujiri. “I’m also excited that Jeff and Bobby are being rewarded for their hard work and valuable contributions to our program.

“My family thanks the NBA, Raptors players and coaches, staff, Raptors fans, the city of Toronto and Canada for this opportunity. Toronto is home for us.”

In their three seasons with the Raptors, Ujiri, Weltman and Webster have helped to build a team that has won three consecutive Atlantic Division titles, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, posted three straight seasons with franchise-high victories, including 56 wins this past season, and compiled a 153-93 (.622) mark – the best record in the Eastern Conference in that span.

“The gratitude and respect we hold for Masai and our Raptors senior management team are reflected in our Board’s action to extend Masai’s contract,” said Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of the Board. “We are excited to build on our team’s success and to give Masai our full support in delivering to our fans and to our country the Toronto Raptors’ first NBA championship.”

Ujiri was named president and general manager May 31, 2013. In addition to his role with the Raptors, Ujiri has been tireless in his efforts to promote and develop the game of basketball throughout Africa. He is the founder of the Giants of Africa Foundation, which launched the Top 50 and Big Man camps in his homeland. He has also served as the director of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program since 2002.

Raptors guard Delon Wright underwent arthroscopic shoulder stabilization today to fix a labral tear in his right shoulder. The procedure was performed by Dr. Riley Williams at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

Wright sustained the injury July 16 in the fourth quarter of a Las Vegas Summer League game versus Minnesota. X-rays taken on-site at Thomas & Mack Center were negative for a fracture and his dislocated shoulder was put back in place. Additional testing revealed a torn labrum.

Wright is expected to be sidelined a minimum of four months.

Wright, the 20th overall pick by the Raptors in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, averaged 3.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 8.5 minutes in 27 appearances last season.

The Raptors have signed guard Fred VanVleet to a multi-year contract.

It’s surprising to us that the team says it’s a multi-year contract. We will guess that it’s a non-guaranteed deal.

VanVleet, 6-foot, 195 pounds, recently participated with the Raptors’ entry in NBA Summer League 2016 in Las Vegas, averaging 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 16.0 minutes in five games. He shot .417 (10-for-24) from the field and .545 (6-for-11) from three-point range.

VanVleet played four seasons at Wichita State (2012-16), averaging 10.2 points, 4.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 26.8 minutes in 141 career games (102 starts). He ranks first all-time in school history in assists (637), steals (225) and assists-to-turnover ratio (3.08). VanVleet helped the Shockers to three Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) titles, three MVC regular season titles and nine NCAA Tournament victories in four trips.

VanVleet’s conference honours include MVC Player of the Year twice (2014, 2016), First Team All-MVC three times (2014, 2015, 2016) and MVC All-Defensive Team three times (2014, 2015, 2016). He was also a two-time finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (2014, 2015), given to the nation’s top point guard.

The Nets have signed free agent forward Anthony Bennett.

Bennett has done little so far in the NBA. The Toronto native was originally selected with the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by Cleveland, becoming the first Canadian ever selected with the top pick in the draft. He wasn’t expected to be selected that high, and has not lived up to being a No. 1 overall draft pick. Which isn’t really his fault.

“We have been excited to watch Anthony’s progress this summer with his national team, and look forward to the opportunity of having Kenny and his staff work with him to continue his development,” said Nets’ General Manager Sean Marks.

Bennett joins the Nets after spending the 2015-16 season with the Toronto Raptors. In 19 games, Bennett recorded averages of 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 4.4 minutes per game. In 128 games in three NBA seasons split between Toronto, Minnesota (2014-15) and Cleveland (2013-14), the 23-year-old holds career averages of 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

Prior to the NBA, Bennett spent one season at UNLV, registering averages of 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 27.1 minutes per game in 35 games (32 starts) en route to Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year honors, as well as Associated Press honorable mention All-American recognition. Bennett is a member of the Canadian national team.