Insider Says Raptors Made Big Mistake with $120M Signing

[Mickey the Mouth]

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Toronto Raptors had an unexpectedly successful season this year. 46 wins and a 5th-place finish in the Eastern Conference was more than most pundits around the NBA gave them credit for. Then fighting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 7th game in a tough opening-round playoff series was the icing on the cake.

Scottie Barnes rose to national prominence with his laudable playoff run, putting the team on his back. He averaged 24 points per game in the series against Cleveland, with 8.6 assists and 6.9 rebounds, along with 2.8 ‘stocks’ (steals + blocks).

But the one big disappointment at the end of it all was Brandon Ingram‘s playoff disappearance. B.I. was everything they hoped he’d be during the regular season after they signed him to a huge (some would say excessive) three-year, $120 million deal last season. He was an All-Star in the regular season and led the team in scoring at 21.5 points per game. He added 5.6 boards and 3.7 assists, while shooting 38.2% from three-point range.

In the playoffs? A combination of underperformance and then a right heel injury left him as almost a complete non-factor for the Raps, relatively speaking. He averaged just 12 points a night.

ESPN Insider Brian Windhorst told TSN Overdrive recently that the $120 million contract was a huge overpay.

I’m just gonna be honest with you. I would not have given him $120M when nobody else was bidding. I thought the Raptors stuck their neck out on that contract… But that’s all water (under) the bridge…

There’s no doubt he has under achieved, and that’s been disappointing. Especially because the Raptors invested so much into him. They basically said, this is going to be Scottie Barnes’ running mate.

But Windy didn’t stop there. He also called out the franchise for the contracts handed out over the last two years to Jakob Poeltl (four years, $104 million), and Immanuel Quickley (five years, $175 million). As with Ingram, the insider says, they seemed to be bidding against themselves.

NBA teams were ‘aghast’ at Raptors’ last 3 big contracts​

“That one (Poeltl’s deal) is a non-starter… They have paid guys when no one is bidding. No one was bidding that much on Poeltl, no one was bidding that much on Ingram. Same thing with Quickley. I’m not saying I don’t want those players in my organization, I just don’t want to pay them those prices.

Literally, the last three big contracts that the Raptors have signed, the whole league has been… aghast, and said ‘OMG!’ The acquisitions were beautiful, but the contracts have been heavy.

This summer, the Raptors will have to pay the piper for those deals, as they’ll have to be very careful in how to improve the team, if they hope to avoid onerous tax apron thresholds. That is, unless they unload one of those big contracts.

Their total active roster cap allocations sit at approximately $212.8 million, putting them slightly over the luxury tax line and about $9.3 million below the first apron limit. They’re about $22 million short of the prohibitive second apron threshold.

As he has been for more than a year, RJ Barrett will unfortunately be a subject of trade rumors, as getting off of his $29.6 million in the final year of his deal seems like the easiest way out. The Toronto-born forward had a huge postseason for the Raptors, averaging over 24 points per game while adding 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, and shooting nearly 39% from long distance.

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