The Toronto Raptors have formally announced the signing of 3rd year Power Forward Julius Randle.
GM Dan Taylor said of his new signing “Julius has a huge amount of potential at the 4 spot but will also compete at the 5 when we go small ball. We have inherited JR on a fantastic, long contract and we see him being a Rap for many years.”. Randle’s contract starts at 6.8m guaranteed for year 1, moving all the way to 10.3m in 2019/20.
After averaging 11.3 and 10.2 last season, The Raptors are looking to take advantage of the additional points given for DD/TD in the IBL and having Randle, 21, in the starting 7 with Capela and Whiteside should, if last season is anything to go by, pay dividends in abundance. “We know he needs to work on blocks and his playmaking. We are also aware that we have given up quite a lot to acquire him but we feel his strength for us lies in his post-up game whilst delivering double digit rebounds.”
Randle’s signing will see Cody Zeller move to the bench and potentially the trading block. “We can’t comment on Cody’s future just yet. He is on a good contract, is young and, with the growth we are expecting, hoping he will deliver near double double returns this season.”
Another key to this deal was the ability to acquire a 1st round pick for 2017-18 from the Milwaukee Bucks. “We truly believe that the team drafted could beat any of the other 29 franchises on any given night, but when Khris went down, we knew that the franchise needed to re-work the plans and re-evaluate our goals.” Taylor added. “We have a core of young guys and are hoping to take advantage of a strong class next season with 2 more top 15 picks. There are 6 guards ranked in the top 9 for 2017 so we are keeping tabs on Dennis Smith, Josh Jackson and Markelle Fultz ahead of this.”
As part of the trade, Toronto will be sending Goran Dragic, Buddy Hield and 3m in cash considerations to Milwaukee.