Raptors Roster Breakdown: Battle and Fernando make cut, cap impact, and more

Jamison Battle and Bruno Fernando are Toronto Raptors.

Those are the most notable outcomes from a series of roster moves the team made Saturday, locking in their 18-man roster for opening night 2024-25 and giving us an early look at what Raptors 905 may look like in the G League this season.

While the team entered training camp with most of the roster set in place, there were a handful of interesting choices to make at the back end. From a salary cap and luxury tax standpoint, this was the easiest Raptors pre-season to navigate in years; the battles were almost exclusively about the roster, for this season and long-term, with the decisions coming down to how best to balance the now and the future.

Let’s take a look at the decisions they made, where things stand from a roster and cap standpoint, and the few outstanding items they’ll still need to address in the coming weeks.

Fernando makes the team

Fernando was in camp on a prove-it deal. If he didn’t make the team, he’d walk away with nothing. If he made it, his entire $2.4-million salary for the year would become completely guaranteed (only $2.1 million counts on the Raptors’ books due to adjustments made for minimum-contract players). That guarantee trigger made Fernando the biggest swing piece in camp.

On the one hand, the Raptors do not have very much centre depth on the roster, leaving them exposed if Jakob Poeltl and/or Kelly Olynyk were to get hurt at any point. Centre is also usually the thinnest position in the G League, with few quality reinforcements available, meaning the trickle-down of not having Fernando could get bleak in a hurry. The Raptors probably felt they had to keep one of Fernando or Branden Carlson (previously on a two-way deal) just in case, and Fernando’s shown at times during his five-year NBA career that he can at least bang and rebound.

The argument against Fernando would have been two-fold: First, his contract guaranteeing takes away a sliver of flexibility, as any of the other options would have been non-guaranteed until January. With the Raptors far from the luxury tax line, that was only a small consideration. The other is that Fernando is 26 and has already played over 200 NBA games. In a rebuilding year, he’s not quite a prospect anymore, and teams in the Raptors situation will often go for the more development-oriented path.

Fernando didn’t light the world on fire in pre-season, struggling with a heavy foul rate and an occasional inability to catch passes or loose balls, though he did rebound well. This feels like more of a roster construction decision than him “winning” the spot.

Other uses of the 15th spot; Rhoden and Ramsey cut; renting out cap space

Fernando making the team means a few others didn’t. Jared Rhoden and Jahmi’us Ramsey were waived, and Jamison Battle earned a two-way roster spot, forcing Carlson to be waived as well.

Rhoden, Ramsey, and Battle were all in camp on Exhibit 10 deals that give the Raptors a few options, including having the player make the team on a non-guaranteed minimum deal. Ramsey was likely Fernando’s biggest competition, given his experience overall and with the Raptors last year, and the strong play of so many point guards in camp may have made it tougher to justify a fifth on the roster.

There were other possibilities, too. The Raptors could have played the waiver wire game, waiting to see who other teams let go of, in the event they wanted to take a look (this happened with Shamorie Ponds a few seasons ago, albeit on a two-way).

League sources also indicated that a number of teams in the luxury tax were making calls Saturday to try to unload salary. This type of deal would have been fairly minor, but renting out the 15th roster spot and some cap space, even temporarily, could land a team like the Pistons a pick, similar to the Raptors trade with the Kings or the Hornets’ role in the Knicks-Timberwolves trade.

It’s worth noting that the option could resurface by the trade deadline. Teams are charged a luxury tax bill based on their cap sheet on the final day of the season, not opening day. The Raptors project to be about $9.2 million below the luxury tax line (before unlikely bonuses are factored in), and saved their mid-level exception, giving them a $12.8-million trade exception to use in-season. Toronto could pick up assets closer to the deadline by helping a tax team lighten their burden. Fernando cuts into that flexibility a little, versus other options.

Battle takes final two-way over Carlson

The Exhibit 10 players – Ramsey, Battle, and Rhoden – were also competing for two-way spots. Even though the Raptors entered camp with Carlson, D.J. Carton, and Ulrich Chomche on two-way deals, it’s very easy (and cheap) to cut a two-way and replace them.

Battle was able to beat out Carlson in a competition that also probably included Fernando in some way, as the team likely wanted one more centre somewhere.

The easy part of this was wanting to keep Battle. No Raptor made more of their small opportunities throughout camp than Battle, who offers enough size and shooting that the team can be patient with some of the other parts of his game, and who showed good effort and toughness in his minutes. He should see steady Raptors 905 time this year to continue to working on reading and reacting to the speed of the pro game and improving as a passer when attacking closeouts.

Losing Carlson is the cost. Carlson had a solid showing at Las Vegas Summer League and came up with a big game-winning block on Jordan Walsh in pre-season action. Overall, the team decided he wasn’t quite close enough to NBA readiness. As a seven-footer with some shooting range and ability to protect the rim, he remains an interesting G Leaguer. The Raptors do not hold his G League rights, but it's possible they could make him an affiliate player if he clears waivers and doesn't sign a two-way elsewhere. Either way, he'll pocket the $77,500 of his two-way deal that was guaranteed (the maximum allowable), which doesn’t hit the Raptors cap sheet.

Battle, Carton, and Chomche are allowed to spend up to 50 games each on the active NBA roster this year and will earn half the league minimum salary ($578,577) with half of that guaranteed ($289,288). The team will have the ability to convert them to standard NBA contracts, or negotiate new NBA deals with them, between now and the end of the season.

What happens to Rhoden, Carlson, and Ramsey

Of the three cuts, Rhoden is the only player Raptors 905 hold the rights to. OKC holds Ramsey’s rights, which the 905 would need to trade for, while Carlson’s rights are unowned as a rookie.

Rhoden and Ramsey would both have to report to Raptors 905 and spend at least 60 days there to receive the $77,500 bonus that is a part of the Exhibit 10 deals they signed this summer. Rhoden is almost surely heading there, barring a last-minute overseas offer. If Ramsey decides he wants to go the G League route, OKC will likely play ball and work out a trade to send his rights to the 905, just like the 905 have done with other players (e.g. sending Mo Gueye’s rights to Washington or, soon, presumably, sending Justise Winslow’s rights to Milwaukee this week).

Carlson is in a different boat as a rookie. Once he clears waivers, he’s free to sign with another NBA team. Failing that, he’ll likely enter the G League draft and be one of the highest-rated players in the pool. The 905 do not have any claim or dibs to Carlson, though he is eligible to play for them if they acquire him.

Four other 905-bound players, and how the 905 roster looks

The Raptors signed and immediately waived four players to stock the 905 system. Before camp, they signed and waived Quincy Guerrier, Dylan Disu, and Kennedy Chandler, who are all expected to be with the 905 in camp and receive bonuses between $50,000 and $77,500 if they stay 60 days with the team. On Saturday, the Raptors also signed and immediately waived Kevin Obanor, who had a really solid season with them last year; this, too, is just a paper move to get Obanor more money on top of his $41,500 G League salary.

As a small aside, this means the Raptors used seven Exhibit 10 deals this year. Last season, under the new CBA, most teams thought this would be illegal – the CBA language is a bit vague but gave the impression that six was the most a team could use. Some teams went beyond that number this year, and league sources confirmed that upon clarification, it’s a cap of six Exhibit 10s at a given time. (Personally, I think if you owe a guy $77,500 in two months, the contract is still active, but I bailed on law school.) Teams can still only use four Exhibit 10s for “affiliate players,” which are usually undrafted rookies who you automatically get the rights to. The other Exhibit 10 spots are situations like Obanor or Rhoden, where their rights are already owned and it’s just a pay bump.

So, to recap: Guerrier, Disu, Chandler, Obanor, and Rhoden are all 905-bound, with Ramsey a possibility if he chooses so and the 905 acquire his rights. Battle, Carton, and Chomche will be down there regularly as two-ways. Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, Gradey Dick, and Ochai Agbaji are eligible to be assigned, too. (Any player in their fourth season or later has to give their permission, and NBPA permission, to be assigned.)

The rest of the roster will be filled out via returning players, the draft, and local tryout additions for camp. The 905 don’t have any picks in the Oct. 26 draft, but they’re fairly easy to acquire. They also still hold rights on Devon Dotson (playing in Spain), Darryl Morsell (Israel), Saben Lee (Turkey), Kobi Simmons (Israel), Makur Maker (unsigned), Myles Burns (unsigned), Drake Jeffries (unsigned), Jaiden Delaire (unsigned), Evan Gilyard (unsigned), and Justise Winslow (signed an Ex. 10 with the Bucks; likely to be traded).

Raptors 905 training camp begins Oct. 28.

Extensions and options

The Raptors have a few other transactions to take care of this month, in addition to filling out the G League roster.

Monday (Oct. 21) is the deadline for Davion Mitchell to sign a rookie-scale extension. If the sides don’t come to an agreement, Mitchell will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Chris Boucher is the only other player on the roster eligible for an extension, but there is no deadline for him; he can sign one any time.

Oct. 31 is the deadline to pick up the third-year team option on Dick’s rookie-scale deal ($4.9 million) and the fourth-year team option on Agbaji’s rookie-scale deal ($6.4 million). Dick’s is a lock to be picked up (with a $7.1-million option for 2026-27 they’ll need to pick up next fall). Agbaji’s feels quite likely, too, given their investment in him so far and their cap sheet for 2025-26.

See you come trade season for some proper cap shenanigans. This year’s camp was too straightforward.