The Raptors have waived guard Tyreke Key, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). The move opens up a spot on Toronto’s 15-man standard roster.
A 6’2″ combo guard, Key signed a rest-of-season minimum-salary contract with the Raptors on Monday after having spent the past two years with the team’s G League affiliate. However, he wasn’t active for Toronto’s games on Tuesday or Thursday and will hit waivers without having made his regular season NBA debut.
Key emerged as a reliable scorer this season for the Raptors 905, averaging 16.6 points per game in 33 regular season outings (14 starts) while shooting 52.1% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range. He went undrafted out of Tennessee in 2023 after spending his first four collegiate seasons at Indiana State and then played in Belgium for a year before signing in the G League.
It appears as if the Raptors’ promotion of Key was more about rewarding him for his performance in the NBAGL over the past couple seasons than anything else. His prorated minimum-salary deal for the final week of the regular season paid him $51,207, representing a nice bonus on top of his modest earnings in the G League. The standard NBAGL salary this season was $45K, while Key also earned another $35K via an Exhibit 10 bonus.
The move will allow Toronto to sign a free agent or promote a two-way player into its 15th roster spot on or before the team’s regular season finale on Sunday. Fourth-year shooting guard A.J. Lawson and 2025 second-round pick Alijah Martin have made 22 NBA appearances apiece in 2025/26 and would each be a viable candidate to be converted from his two-way contract to the standard roster, gaining playoff eligibility.