Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Super-Max/Rose Rule Candidates To Watch After Mobley Cashed In

April 25th, 2025 at 8:49pm CST by Luke Adams

As we detailed on Thursday within our story about Evan Mobley earning Defensive Player of the Year honors, the award represented a major financial boon for the Cavaliers big man, who significantly increased the value of his contract extension by virtue of being named this season’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Mobley signed a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension last summer that included Rose Rule language. The Rose Rule allows a player and team to negotiate a maximum salary worth up to 30% of the cap (instead of the usual 25%) for a player with just four years of NBA experience if he makes an All-NBA team or wins the MVP or DPOY award.

Interestingly, Mobley’s rookie scale extension would’ve started at 27.5% of the cap in 2025/26 if he had made the All-NBA third team (instead of one of the first two teams) and hadn’t won Defensive Player of the Year.

Now that he has received DPOY recognition, it will instead start at 30%.

Here are the three scenarios that had been in play for Mobley, based on a projected 10% cap increase:

Year	25% of cap	27.5% of cap	30% of cap
2025/26	$38,661,750	$42,527,925	$46,394,100
2026/27	$41,754,690	$45,930,159	$50,105,628
2027/28	$44,847,630	$49,332,393	$53,817,156
2028/29	$47,940,570	$52,734,627	$57,528,684
2029/30	$51,033,510	$56,136,861	$61,240,212
Total	$224,238,150	$246,661,965	$269,085,780

Mobley cashed in with his DPOY win, locking in a contract that projects to be worth in excess of $269MM over the next five seasons. Are there any other players who could join him by earning All-NBA nods this spring?

There’s only really one other guy who entered award season in the same boat as Mobley, waiting to see if his rookie scale extension worth 25% of the cap will increase to 30% of the cap. That player is Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham looks like a pretty safe bet to be included on one of the All-NBA teams for 2024/25, and unlike Mobley, his contract doesn’t include any variable rates between 25% and 30% depending on which All-NBA team he makes. If Cunningham is a third-teamer, that would still be enough to bump his ’25/26 salary to 30% of the cap, matching Mobley’s deal.

Two other players signed Rose Rule extensions last offseason, but Magic forward Franz Wagner didn’t appear in enough games to qualify for All-NBA consideration and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes isn’t a serious candidate for the honor — their new contracts will start at 25% of next season’s cap.

There’s one other player to watch for potential super-max candidacy though — Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. would become eligible for a super-max (ie. “designated veteran“) contract extension worth up to 35% of the cap if he’s one of this season’s 15 All-NBA players. He looks like a solid bet to make the cut after serving as Memphis’ most reliable offensive weapon and earning DPOY votes.

If Jackson earns an All-NBA spot, the Grizzlies would have three options when they enter extension talks with him this offseason:

They could offer him a raise of up to 40% off his current contract, but that likely wouldn’t be enough to get a deal done, since his salary in the final year of his current deal in 2025/26 is just $23.4MM, a relatively modest figure for an All-NBA caliber player.
They could use cap room to renegotiate his ’25/26 salary in order to give him a raise and then extend him off of that figure. This is a legitimate option, given that the Grizzlies are in position to potentially carve out a little cap room.
They could sign him to a super-max extension that starts anywhere between 30% and 35% of the cap. Although it’s typical for players who sign super-max deals to get the full 35%, a team doesn’t necessarily need to go that high — when Utah extended Rudy Gobert after he became super-max eligible with a Defensive Player of the Year win, for instance, his deal started at a little over 31% of the cap.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will also be eligible to sign a super-max contract extension this offseason — that would still be the case even if he doesn’t win this season’s MVP award or make an All-NBA team (he’ll almost certainly do both), since he achieved the performance criteria a year ago.

The Rose Rule and super-max performance criteria call for a player to earn All-NBA, MVP, or DPOY recognition in either the preceding season or in two of the three preceding seasons, so Gilgeous-Alexander got there by making All-NBA teams in 2023 and 2024, even though he wouldn’t have enough years of service to sign his new deal until 2025.

No other stars are in position to meet that two-in-three-years criteria early this spring, like Gilgeous-Alexander did last year.

A player like Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, for example, is on track to make his second straight All-NBA team, but won’t meet the years-of-service criteria for a super-max extension until 2027. That means that even if he earns an All-NBA spot this year, Edwards will have to do so again in either 2026 or 2027 to be eligible to sign that deal in ’27, since the 2024 nod won’t be counted within the preceding three seasons at that time.

We’re likely still a few weeks away from learning this year’s full All-NBA results. A year ago, the league announced those teams on May 22.

Raptors’ Jared Rhoden Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

April 22nd, 2025 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

Raptors guard Jared Rhoden underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to a press release from the team.

It’s estimated that Rhoden’s recovery and rehabilitation process following the procedure, which was performed in New York, will take about four to six months, the Raptors said in their announcement.

Rhoden, who went undrafted out of Seton Hall in 2022, spent most of his first two professional seasons on two-way contracts with the Pistons before joining the Raptors for training camp last fall. He was cut by Toronto at the end of the 2024 preseason and was claimed off waivers by the Hornets, who converted him to a two-way deal.

The 6’5″ guard spent a little over a month with Charlotte before being waived again and returning to the Raptors’ organization. He played in the G League for the Raptors 905 until he signed a 10-day contract in February and then a two-way deal in early March to finish the season on Toronto’s NBA roster.

Rhoden appeared in 10 games as a Raptor this season, averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 21.5 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .506/.324/.880. He bumped those averages to 19.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 3.4 APG in 31.4 MPG on .507/.393/.648 shooting in 26 regular season outings for the 905.

The 25-year-old’s two-way contract with the Raptors is a two-year deal that covers the 2025/26 season, so the team will have the option of hanging onto him through the offseason while he rehabs following his shoulder procedure. However, his recovery timeline puts him on track to miss Summer League and maybe even training camp too, so it’s possible Toronto will ultimately decide to use that roster spot on a healthier player.

Contract Details: Lawson, Castleton, Williams, Davis, Davison, Payton

April 22nd, 2025 at 7:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors dipped into their mid-level exception to give A.J. Lawson and Colin Castleton rest-of-season salaries of $100K apiece when they signed standard multiyear contracts during the final week of the regular season, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

Had Toronto simply signed the duo to minimum-salary deals, Lawson would’ve received about $24K at the end of this season, while Castleton would’ve earned less than $11K.

In exchange for those end-of-season raises, Lawson and Castleton each gave the Raptors favorable terms for the 2025/26 season. Both players have fully non-guaranteed minimum salaries ($2,270,735 for Lawson; $2,191,897 for Castleton) and don’t have offseason trigger dates, so Toronto could hang onto them all the way through training camp and the preseason without owing them any guaranteed money beyond this season’s $100K.

We have details on a few more of the contracts signed during the final days of the regular season:

The two-year, minimum-salary deal that point guard Brandon Williams signed with the Mavericks on April 10 includes a non-guaranteed $2,270,735 salary for 2025/26. Williams would lock in a partial guarantee of $200K if he remains under contract through July 7 and that partial guarantee would increase to $850K if he’s still on the roster at the start of next season. If Williams plays out the full contract, he’d have four years of NBA experience when he reaches free agency in 2026, so Dallas wouldn’t have the ability to make him a restricted free agent.
Veteran guard Terence Davis signed a two-year contract worth the veteran’s minimum with the Kings. His $2,546,675 salary for next season is non-guaranteed, but he would earn a partial guarantee worth $250K if he remains under contract for the team’s first regular season game of 2025/26.
The Celtics‘ new two-year deal with G League MVP JD Davison is a minimum-salary agreement that includes a non-guaranteed team option worth $2,270,735 for the 2025/26 season.
The two-year, minimum-salary contract that Elfrid Payton signed with the Pelicans also features a non-guaranteed team option for ’25/26. That option would be worth $3,153,598 if exercised.

Atlantic Notes: Ujiri, Rajakovic, Raptors, Sixers’ Trio, Knicks Bigs

April 17th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Raptors‘ front office, led by president Masai Ujiri, is determined to get the team back into championship contention, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. In his end-of-season news conference, Ujiri expressed that he wasn’t able to enjoy Toronto’s championship in 2019 as much as he would’ve liked and that all he thinks about is getting his team back to that spot.

“[Our goal] is getting better and adding more players and building this team and growing to be a championship team,” Ujiri said. “A championship is the end goal of all of this, and when that comes, we don’t know, but we have to identify those players and build with those kinds of players.”

The Raptors took a big swing by acquiring Brandon Ingram at the deadline and giving him a multiyear extension before he played a game for the team.

“At the end of the day, you have to acquire talent,” Ujiri said. “We have to do it in a unique way in the market that we’re in and we’ve got to jump on opportunities that come our way, sometimes after we really study them.”

Ujiri’s comments this week represented a departure from the ones he made a year ago, when he expressed a willingness to embark on a multiyear rebuild, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Toronto did maximize its draft talent this year, with rookies Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Jamison Battle all stepping up and playing big roles.

“I was really happy with the way these guys played and hopefully their development comes up more and more,” Ujiri said. “Yeah, we tried to attack the odds in the lottery and see what we can do. It’s a good draft. And honestly, wherever we fall, we feel very confident. Our guys have done a lot of work all year. We’re extremely excited.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The pressure to win has been relatively low in Toronto with the team acquiring and developing so many young players, Grange writes in another piece. But with the Raptors‘ focus shifting toward winning, head coach Darko Rajakovic is ready for the team’s next phase and has the full buy-in of his players. “He’s a really good coach. He cares about us. He really does,” RJ Barrett said. “He comes in and he challenges us every single day. And it’s nice when you know that you have somebody that cares about you — makes you want to play even harder for them. Darko’s a guy you can have conversations with about anything, and he’s very helpful. Always teaching, but he listens to us and our ideas. Yeah. So, like, that stuff is great.”
Sixers wing Paul George wants the team’s big three – himself, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid – to spend more time together this offseason, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “I think that’s very important,” George said. “We’ve already talked about seeing each other, where we’re going to be this summer. So we’ve already had those conversations about connecting once the season’s over. I think it’s very important. I don’t think it’s healthy to go two, three months before seeing each other, regardless of if we’re checking in over the phone. It’s just different seeing each other.“
The Knicks might turn to two-big lineups in the playoffs against the Pistons, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns only played 47 minutes together this season, but that two-man grouping outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said that despite the small sample size, he liked what he saw from that pairing.

Raptors Notes: Ingram, Barnes, Next Season

April 15th, 2025 at 5:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors forward Brandon Ingram had some “aggravation” in his injured left ankle, which led to last week’s PRP injection, Josh Lewenberg of TSN tweets. Ingram added that “things are trending in the right way.”

Ingram, acquired from New Orleans at the trade deadline, will have to wait until next season to make his Raptors debut. He played his last game on Dec. 7, when he was injured against Oklahoma City.

We have more on the Raptors:

When Ingram returns, coach Darko Rajakovic doesn’t want the high-scoring forward to shy away from taking mid-range shots, according to Lewenberg (Twitter links). “I told Brandon I don’t want to change him… He needs to be himself,” Rajakovic said. “People are always going to talk about, oh, mid-range… Brother, if you can make a shot from that position, go for it.”
The head coach also considers Scottie Barnes the team’s leader at both ends of the floor. “Scottie Barnes is a unicorn. I love Scottie Barnes. I love everything he does,” Rajakovic said. “Scottie Barnes is the reason our defense was so good and improving this season because Scottie Barnes puts so much into it.”
Members of the organization are happy with the way Barnes has embraced that leadership role, Lewenberg writes for TSN.ca. “[Leadership] is never easy but I’m really willing to learn,” Barnes said. “And then you take things that you see from other people, as well, and you find ways to [implement] it. It’s all about being comfortable and I feel comfortable talking to these guys. We’re a great team and we get along with each other really well, so it makes it easy.”
Although Toronto only won 30 games, the core players are very optimistic about next season, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. Barnes expects to be preparing for the postseason at this time next year. “My expectations for the team? I expect us to be really good,” he said. “For sure getting into the playoffs and make a great run. With the team that we have, there are no excuses. We should be in the playoffs and make a good run.”

Raptors Sign Colin Castleton To Two-Year Deal

April 13th, 2025 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

April 13: Castleton’s contract with Toronto is now official, the team confirmed in a press release.

April 11: Second-year center Colin Castleton will be leaving the Sixers and returning to the Raptors on the final weekend of the regular season, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Castleton, who was on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies earlier this season, was waived by Memphis in January, then inked a pair of 10-day deals with Toronto in March before joining the 76ers on a 10-day pact last Thursday.

In 24 total outings for those three teams in 2024/25, Castleton has averaged 4.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. He played his best basketball this season with the Raptors, putting up 6.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 10 games (four starts) over the course of his 20 days with Toronto.

Because a player can’t sign more than two 10-day contracts with a team in a season, the big man was only able to return to the Raptors if he and the team agreed to a standard contract.

They’ve done just that, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca, who tweets that Castleton and two-way player A.J. Lawson are getting essentially the same deal — a two-year contract that isn’t guaranteed beyond this season. That will allow the Raptors to take a longer look at the duo this offseason, including in Summer League.

Toronto waived Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider on Thursday, opening up a pair of spots on the 15-man roster. At the time, reports indicated that Robinson, Swider, Lawson, and Castleton were among the candidates to fill those openings on new multiyear deals. It appears Lawson and Castleton will be the ones filling out the roster, with Robinson and Swider the odd men out.

Castleton’s 10-day contract with Philadelphia technically runs through Saturday, but with the Sixers not in action again until Sunday, it’s possible they’ll terminate his deal a day early in order to free him up to sign with Toronto.

Raptors Promote A.J. Lawson To Two-Year Standard Deal

April 12th, 2025 at 3:46pm CST by Rory Maher

April 12: The Raptors have officially promoted Lawson to their standard roster, the team confirmed today in a press release.

April 11: The Raptors are promoting A.J. Lawson from his two-way contract to a two-year standard deal, agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

An Ontario native, Lawson signed a two-way contract with Toronto in December after spending training camp this past fall with Dallas. He has made 24 appearances for the Raptors thus far in 2024/25, averaging 8.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .428/.333/.620.

The Raptors waived center Orlando Robinson and sharpshooter Cole Swider on Thursday, creating a pair of openings on their standard roster. They will fill one of those vacancies by converting Lawson from his two-way contract. Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca reported yesterday that promoting Lawson was one option that Toronto was considering.

A 6’6″ wing, Lawson went undrafted in 2021 out of South Carolina. He spent his first professional season in the G League before catching on with Minnesota and then Dallas during the 2022/23 campaign. He spent all of ’23/24 with the Mavs, appearing in 42 games in a limited role off the bench.

Lawson opened ’24/25 suiting up for the G League’s Long Island Nets before signing with the Raptors. He was named to the NBAGL’s Up Next event — essentially its version of the All-Star Game — in late January. In 37 combined games (33.1 MPG) with Long Island and the Raptors 905 this season, the 24-year-old has averaged 20.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.3 SPG on .440/.361/.726 shooting.

Lawson’s salary for next season will be fully non-guaranteed, according to Murphy (Twitter link).

Atlantic Notes: Whitehead, Brown, Boucher, Knicks

April 10th, 2025 at 5:41pm CST by Tristan Tucker

As the Nets near the end of the season, their priority in the last three games will be evaluating which players might be a part of their future. As Bridget Reilly of the New York Post writes, 2023 first-round forward Dariq Whitehead is hoping to prove he should stick around with the franchise for the long run.

Still just 20 years old, Whitehead has been limited to just 19 NBA games in his first two seasons after dealing with several injuries, including a stress reaction on his leg that ended his rookie year. The Duke product said he feels he’s almost back to 100% health.

“I feel it coming,” Whitehead said. “I will say it’s night and day from just trusting my body and stuff. Doing things I haven’t done in two years, which is amazing for me and I’m sure it’s amazing for the coaches and staff to see.”

In 17 games this year, Whitehead is averaging 6.2 points while shooting 44.8% on 3.9 three-point attempts per game. Over 75% of his shots have come from beyond the arc.

“This is going to be an important summer for me,” Whitehead said. “Since I’ve been hurt, I haven’t been able to just work on those things, which is getting my athleticism back and just doing certain movements. Just me attacking this summer is going to be really important for me.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Celtics star Jaylen Brown is out for the team’s Friday game against the Hornets, according to The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn (Twitter link). As Washburn notes, that means Brown won’t reach the 65-game threshold necessary to be eligible for postseason awards.
Chris Boucher has been a long-term fixture of the Raptors, making the team out of training camp in 2018/19 and becoming part of that season’s championship roster. As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes, there is mutual interest in another contract between Boucher and the Raptors as he hits unrestricted free agency this summer. The big man has had a strong season, averaging 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game, though his role has fluctuated. “Obviously it’s not ideal, but it’s the business. I know how things go by now,” Boucher said of his minutes. “I’m trying to stay positive with how my life is and see the positive stuff, and I think I had a great year, too. I think that helps, knowing that I’m growing and being the player and the person that I want to be, so I take those wins. The season went by pretty quick, so I’ll enjoy the last few games and see what happens.”
The Knicks are showing a willingness to rest players in the last part of the season, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post writes. If New York wins on Thursday or Indiana loses, the Knicks will clinch the third seed. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson will sit out of Thursday’s contest. New York’s playoff roster last season was depleted by injuries, so the team appears to be doing what it can do avoid history repeating itself.

Final Check-In On Open NBA Roster Spots

April 10th, 2025 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

With just four days left in the NBA’s regular season, there are still a few teams around the league with open 15-man roster spots, and there’s little downside to filling those openings before the regular season ends.

For playoff teams, adding one more player would create a little extra depth in the event of postseason injuries or garbage-time minutes. For non-playoff teams, it makes sense to try to convince a young player to accept a multiyear deal that includes little or no guaranteed money beyond this season, since it gives those teams another option for next year’s roster.

Even clubs over the luxury tax line or right up against it shouldn’t have a problem paying one more player a prorated minimum salary for the last day or two of the season — the prorated minimum for a veteran on a rest-of-season deal is just $11,997 per day, which is a drop in the bucket for NBA franchises.

With all that in mind, it’s safe to assume that some – if not all – of the teams with open roster spots should fill them by Sunday. Here are those teams:

Boston Celtics
Dallas Mavericks
Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans
Toronto Raptors (2)

The Mavericks‘ plans for their open 15-man roster spot have already been reported. They intend to promote two-way player Brandon Williams to a standard contract and likely would’ve done it much sooner if they’d had enough room under their hard cap to do so.

The Pelicans technically have 16 players on standard contracts as of today, but two of those players – Elfrid Payton and Kylor Kelley – are on 10-day contracts that will expire this weekend. I’d expect New Orleans to look to sign Payton, Kelley or someone else to a multiyear contract that gives the club some roster flexibility beyond this season.

The Raptors opened up a pair of roster spots on Thursday by waiving Orlando Robinson and Cole Swider, both of whom were on rest-of-season contracts. Their reported plan is to fill those two spots in the coming days with players on multiyear deals — Robinson and/or Swider may even return, though Colin Castleton is reportedly also on Toronto’s radar, and a promotion of two-way player A.J. Lawson is a possibility too.

The other two teams here – the Celtics and Warriors – are either assured of a playoff spot (in Boston’s case) or are well positioned to make it (in Golden State’s case). But that doesn’t necessarily mean each of those teams will sign a win-now veteran as a 15th man. They already have enough depth on their respective rosters that they may prefer to add a younger prospect – perhaps a two-way player or someone from the G League – on a multiyear deal.

While there are only five teams with open spots on their 15-man rosters, that doesn’t necessarily mean those five clubs are the only candidates to make roster moves in the next few days.

Teams without an open roster spot could waive one of their current 15 players in order to make room for a new addition or a promoted two-way player. They’ll likely have to make that decision very soon though — 4:00 pm Central time on Thursday is the deadline to waive a player on an expiring contract in order to ensure he clears waivers before the final day of the regular season, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

The Cavaliers (Chuma Okeke), Kings (Terence Davis), and Knicks (P.J. Tucker) are among the teams who had been carrying an open 15-man roster spot but who have filled that opening this month.

Finally, it’s worth noting that there are a handful of clubs with two-way contract slots available, but the deadline for two-way signings passed in early March, so those roster spots will remain open.

Raptors Waive Orlando Robinson, Cole Swider

April 10th, 2025 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have completed a pair of roster moves, announcing in a press release that they’ve waived center Orlando Robinson and forward Cole Swider.

Robinson, who began the season with the Kings, was waived by Sacramento in January and has since been on a series of deals with Toronto, including a pair of 10-day contracts, a two-way pact, and a standard rest-of-season contract.

In 35 appearances (eight starts) for the Raptors, the big man averaged 8.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 20.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .447/.340/.794.

Swider joined the Raptors more recently after spending time with Detroit on a two-way deal earlier in the season. He signed a 10-day contract with Toronto in March, then a rest-of-season contract last Saturday.

The former Syracuse standout averaged 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per night across eight outings for the Raptors, making 35.7% of his three-point attempts.

Neither Robinson nor Swider was under team control beyond this season, so the expectation is that the Raptors will use their two newly opened roster spots to sign players to multiyear deals, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Those deals will likely feature little to no guaranteed money beyond this season, but will give Toronto a chance to take a longer look at the players in the summer.

Robinson and Swider are among the candidates to return on new contracts if and when they clear waivers. According to Murphy, it’s also possible the Raptors will promote A.J. Lawson from his two-way deal and/or bring back Colin Castleton, whose 10-day contract with the Sixers expires on Saturday.