The Raptors have waived Rasual Butler, the team announced in a press release. By releasing him today, the Raptors allow Butler to sign elsewhere and be eligible for the playoffs.
Butler, who signed with Toronto in December for the veteran's minimum, has played in 34 games for the club, averaging just 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. The 31-year-old has a career-low .308 FG% (.273 3PT%) and has played just two minutes in March for the Raptors, his sixth NBA team.
The Raptors, who have also traded Leandro Barbosa and waived Anthony Carter this month, will reduce their roster to just 12 players after parting ways with Butler, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they added a player or two for the season's final few weeks.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) first reported that the Raptors had agreed to waive Butler.
Negotiate a deal to bring in Jonas Valuncianus from his Euro club for the balance of the season. It would be great for the kid to get acclimatized to the NBA in a no pressure situation since the Raps aren’t going to be in the playoffs. It might tempt some Raptors fans to buy a ticket to see the games. Let’s face it. There isn’t a lot of motivation to buy expensive tickets for the balance of the season otherwise.
I see your logic, but I disagree. The best possible thing for this to tank like heck, and bringing in a player like J-Val would hurt that.
I definitely agree with you. The raps won’t be in the playoffs and they might as well take their high draft pick. With Valanciunas and a solid talent (from the draft) coming in next year (and don’t forget sonny weems), the raptors will perform better next season.
Raptors are in tough .. this is not a happy playground