Toronto Raptors cut five players including a recent draft pick
It turns out that Thursday is cutting day in the Toronto Raptors’ front office.
Ulrich Chomche, AJ Lawson, Jared Rhoden, David Roddy, and Olivier Sarr were all waived by the Raptors on Thursday afternoon, the team announced.
Toronto remains with one open roster spot, as they currently have a full-time roster of 14 with two two-way players also signed.
Lawson was the player of the five with the most experience on the Raptors, suiting up for 26 games last season. Rhoden played 10 games in Toronto, while Chomche, a 2024 second-round draft pick, played seven games in his rookie year while mostly being sidelined due to injury.
The tough roster decisions are likely going to continue for the Raptors throughout the year. While they’re pushing to make their first postseason appearance since 2022, it’s also going to be a year-long tryout for several players to continue to try to impress Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic.
“I believe that this year, we do have a deeper roster. And we have more guys that can contribute night in and night out. And that’s a dream for every coach,” Rajakovic said at media day last month. “It’s not going to be easy to make those decisions night in and night out, but that’s the problem I’m looking forward to have — to decide who are the guys going to be out there, who’s going to be competing.”
When does the Raptors’ season begin?
Toronto has one final preseason game on Friday night, when they host the Brooklyn Nets at Scotiabank Arena.
The season begins for real on Oct. 21, when the Raptors play their first game of the season on the road against the Atlanta Hawks.
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