One of the shrewdest trades in Toronto Raptors history looks even better today. That’s because Sasha Vezenkov is heading back to Europe. Not that Vezenkov is a bad player — he is a former EuroLeague MVP and scoring leader after all — but on a rebuilding Raptors team there’s little need for a veteran who is about to turn 29 with limited upside and some defensive liabilities.
Vezenkov had been owed $6.65 million U.S.
by the Raptors for the 2024-25 season after being acquired from the Sacramento Kings along with point guard Davion Mitchell and the 45th pick of June’s NBA draft (which turned into another point guard, reigning NCAA defensive player of the year Jamal Shead) in exchanged for little-used Raptor Jalen McDaniels. Sacramento made the strange move in order to clear out salary, which was eventually used to add former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan. But in the end, Toronto didn’t take in all that much salary, since Vezenkov agreed to give up the entire $6.
65 million to sign a multi-year deal in Greece, according to Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy . Reports out of Europe earlier this month had pegged Vezenkov’s departure to Olympiacos as a done deal, but Raptors president Masai Ujiri had cautioned that nothing had been decided. “We’re still going through that situation.
I had conversations with Sasha, his representation and I think that should develop in the next few days or we’ll see whether it’s a few months,” Ujiri had told reporters in Toronto. “We acquired a player in a trade and we feel we’ve communicated well. We communicated well with the agent and the team before and so we’ll see.
We’ll see how that goes.” Turns out it went well for all parties. Vezenkov obviously wasn’t thrilled with his first taste of the NBA, he battled injuries and didn’t find a role in Sacramento and can now recoup his money eventually and be a star overseas again The team also waived guard Javon Freeman-Liberty who was on a partially guaranteed deal.
The moves leave the Raptors with plenty of options. The team sits about $11 million under the luxury tax in an NBA filled mostly with teams eager to avoid the new punitive restrictions of the latest collective bargaining agreement. That could provide opportunities to take on salary in exchange for assets (similar to the Kings deal), or Toronto could use its mid-level exception to sign a free agent (though the picking is slim at this point of the summer).
Another option is bringing back young centre Christian Koloko, the 33rd pick of the 2022 draft. Toronto was high on the Cameroon native, but reluctantly waived him when it needed to clear a roster spot in January. Koloko had not played that season due to blood clots, but U.
K.s Sun recently reported Koloko went through a private workout in Las Vegas. Reports said Koloko was seeking approval to return from NBA doctors after his issues were apparently resolved through surgery.
Toronto has remained high on the rim-running shot blocker. Koloko was recently seen chatting with some of his former Raptors teammates and general manager Bobby Webster in Las Vegas Toronto also still has a little under $4 million remaining in a trade exception created when Pascal Siakam was dealt to the Indiana Pacers and the team is also looking for a new home for Bruce Brown, a part of that trade..
