Raptors waive Juancho Hernangomez to make room for new signing: report

Feb 28 2023, 8:37 pm

The Bo Cruz era is over for the Toronto Raptors.

On Tuesday afternoon, The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported that the Raptors are waiving veteran forward Juancho Hernangomez, who was in his first season with the team.

Though he was a middle-of-the-rotation player for Toronto, Hernangomez received notoriety around the NBA for his leading role alongside Adam Sandler as Spanish NBA prospect Bo Cruz in the 2022 Netflix original movie Hustle.

Hernangomez has averaged 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 points and 0.6 assists in 42 games for the Raptors this season. He played an average of 14.6 minutes per game this season, putting him 11th in the team’s rotation by average floor time per game.

In his time in the NBA, Hernangomez has played seven seasons for six teams, including the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and San Antonio Spurs. He has averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 339 regular-season games.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the move was made in order for the Raptors to clear space to sign veteran guard Will Barton, who was recently bought out by the Washington Wizards.

Barton has played 11 seasons for the Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Wizards.

He has averaged 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 663 regular-season games. Barton has averaged 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 40 games this season.

The deadline to sign players on buyout deals to make them eligible for the playoff roster is tomorrow, March 1.

The Raptors are at home tonight at Scotiabank Arena against the Chicago Bulls, though it appears unlikely that Barton will be in the lineup, given that the move has yet to been made official.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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