Grading the Toronto Raptors' sneaky yet effective two-way contract strategy

Player Reviews? No, this is more like a review of how the Raptors effectively used their Two-Way Contract roster spots.

The Toronto Raptors actively used their Two-Way roster spots for the second straight season to achieve long-term and short-term goals. This is a big departure from the past few seasons when the team was much more patient to see if their Two-Way prospect would pan out (or not). Also, having a third Two-Way contract slot gave the team much more flexibility to evaluate prospects in different stages of their careers.

The Raptors had several names attached to their Two-Way spots this past season:

• DJ Carton
• Branden Carlson
• Jamison Battle
• Orlando Robinson
• Jared Rhoden
• AJ Lawson
• Ulrich Chomche

It’s been a blur, I may have missed a name or two from that list.

Looking into the “linear roster spot champs,” here’s how I believe it went down:

• 2W #1: Ulrich Chomche (Undisputed, #AndStill)
• 2W #2: DJ Carton —> AJ Lawson —> VACANT
• 2W #3: Branden Carlson —> Jamison Battle —> Orlando Robinson —> Jared Rhoden (#AndNew)

Heading into last year’s free agency, the Raptors had two Two-Way contract players in DJ Carton and Mo Gueye, with Javon Freeman-Liberty’s Two-Way contract converted into a multi-year “prove-em training camp deal.” Gueye was released during the free-agency period because, “Hey, we have Mo Gueye at home (Chris Boucher), who’s a much better player, but we don’t even want to play him.” Branden Carlson signed as a UDFA after the draft and got one of the Raptors’ 2W spots but lost the training camp battle (pun intended) to Jamison Battle, who took his 2W spot. On the other hand, DJ Carton survived the training camp. Still, injuries robbed him of an opportunity to show what he can do. The Raptors quickly moved on to AJ Lawson, who “visited home” and torched the Raptors 905 while playing for the Long Island Nets.

Midway through the season, Battle impressed enough to have his contract converted. His spot briefly went to Orlando Robinson, whom the Raptors did not see a future on their roster. He waived him after helping the team win unnecessary games, and he swiftly promoted Jared Rhoden from the Raptors 905 to take Robinson’s spot. Meanwhile, the Raptors converted AJ Lawson’s 2W contract into a standard contract before the end of the season, leaving the Raptors an empty 2W spot to end the season.

Oh, we almost forgot about Ulrich Chomche. Chomche is a long-term project, so his spot is safe even though he suffered a season-ending injury a few months ago. Let’s look at the Two-Way Prospects:

Jared Rhoden

Raptors: 10 GP, 21.5 MIN, 11.4 PTS, 32.4% 3P%, 3.8 REB, 1.4 AST

Raptors 905: 26 GP, 31.4 MIN, 19 PTS, 39.3% 3P%, 6.9 REB, 3.4 AST, 1.3 STL

Rhoden started the season on the Toronto Raptors’ training camp roster, missing the cut. Shortly after, the Charlotte Hornets signed him to a Two-Way contract. However, Rhoden did not survive the season at Charlotte, as injuries and Isaiah Wong’s strong play forced the Hornets to waive him early in December. That situation worked out well for the Raptors, as Rhoden found himself back in the Raptors’ organization, this time with the Raptors 905. Rhoden recovered in time for the “Regular season” part of the G League season, joining a stacked Raptors 905 roster. He gave Coach Dru Jones plenty of flexibility, adjusting to the team's needs. He’s been in and out of the starting lineup, effortlessly floating between the first and fourth options depending on the game, alternating between playing off-ball, hunting for his shots, and being tasked with creating some advantage.

With the Raptors 905, Rhoden dialled up his aggressiveness as a starter, hunting and looking to create more often. Coming off the bench, his minutes and touches were dialed down, but his efficiency got better. He scored 15 points on 55.2% shooting, including 48.6% from behind the arc, in 9 games. However, the most exciting part of Rhoden’s young Raptor career is when his number got called in the fourth quarter back in March/April, aka Darko’s Tank Strategy, where he would sit his key players in the fourth quarter. Rhoden played heavy minutes in the fourth quarter over his last nine games, averaging 8.6 minutes and putting up 5.3 points while shooting a whopping 46% from behind the arc. He made it tough for the Raptors to tank on games and played meaningful minutes.

Rhoden had a couple of stellar games—a 25/12/5/4 game against the Philadelphia 76ers and a tough 23/7/4 performance against the Charlotte Hornets, where he played through a torn labrum. Unfortunately, Rhoden suffered a shoulder injury in the Raptors’ home finale against the Hornets when he got tangled with Taj Gibson. While he showed his toughness and resilience by playing through the injury to finish the game, the injury was worse than it looked, and the Raptors just recently announced that Rhoden underwent shoulder surgery that might put him on the shelf for 4-6 months.

That’s a tough break for Rhoden, which puts his roster spot in a precarious position. The timetable takes him out of the Summer League, and a return in time for the training camp (late September) will have to depend on a fast recovery.

AJ Lawson

Raptors: 26 GP, 18.7 MIN, 9.1 PTS, 32.7% 3P%, 3.3 REB, 1.2 AST

Raptors 905: 26 GP, 19.6 PTS, 38.2% 3P%, 4.7 REB, 2.4 AST, 1.3 STL

AJ Lawson had a couple of cups of coffee with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks, but the Toronto native may have found a home right in his backyard. Lawson started the season as a free agent, landing a gig with the Long Island Nets. A hot start, punctuated by an electric performance in front of his hometown crowd at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, likely caught the Raptors’ attention. Arguably his best game at the NBA G League level this past season, Lawson demolished the Raptors 905 with 37 points, seven boards, and three steals. He was such a ball of energy that coach Drew Jones and his Raptors 905 could not contain him that entire night. Lawson joined an already stacked Raptors 905 roster after waiving DJ Carton early in December and had pretty good production, putting up 19.6 points and 4.7 boards while hitting 38.2% from behind the arc. Despite a bit of a dip compared to his counting stats while playing for the Long Island Nets, Lawson’s much more efficient as a 905er, given the fewer minutes and touches.

Lawson did not see any meaningful minutes until the Raptors raised the white flag on their season, playing in 21 of the final 22 games, including as a starter twice. Coach Darko Rajakovic gave him a long look, averaging approximately 22 minutes per game during this stretch. Lawson scored 10.7 points and four boards while shooting 41.8% from the field, including 32.3% from behind the arc. Perhaps his best stretch as a Raptor came during the three-game stretch against the Wizards, Sixers, and the Jazz, where he averaged 26 points and 7.6 boards while going 13-for-28 from behind the arc. Defensively, he could channel his energy and motor to contribute to the team’s try-hard defence, and he gambled less defensively compared to his NBA G League tenure.

Lawson’s performance convinced management to give him a pay bump, elevating him to a standard contract right before the end of the season and potentially giving him the right to fight for a roster spot in this coming training camp. For Lawson, he’s shown that he can be a good fit for coach Rajakovic’s offence – he won’t shy away from presenting himself as a play finisher, sometimes, for better or worse. He will need to spend the summer working on his efficiency, as he won’t always get the mid-to-heavy minutes he got late in the season. Suppose Lawson can show that he can come in for 10-12 minutes, be efficient, and have the ability to scale up his production with extended minutes. In that case, he may be able to hold on to a roster spot next season.

Ulrich Chomche

Raptos (TOT): 7 GP, 5 PTS, 2 FG, 5 BLK, 2A

Raptors 905: 33 GP, 7.1 PTS, 7.6 REB, 1.1 AST, 2.9 BLK, 2.9 PF

There’s nothing noteworthy statistically for us to be excited about Chomche’s rookie season, where he spent more time with the Raptors 905 than with the main club. However, looking at his season as a whole (Raptors + Raptors 905), seeing how he’s progressed is encouraging. The club eased him in slowly with their G League team, with Chomche initially pegged to come off the bench behind Branden Carlsen. He looked raw as the Raptors 905’s backup big, and a “two years away from being two years away” label wouldn’t be a stretch. As fate would have it, Carlson would receive a call-up early in the season, forcing coach Drew Jones’ hand to start Chomche.

Chomche mixed flashes of his potential sprinkled between plays of looking lost, out of position, and having overall inexperience early in the Tip-Off tournament part of the G League season. However, Chomche’s confidence grew as the games went on, especially once he got used to the game speed and also had a much better grasp of his position offensively and defensively. While coach Jones did not call many plays for him, Chomche gradually improved on reading what was happening on the floor and finding the spots to put himself in a position to be a play finisher.

Chomche’s defensive instincts allowed him to make excellent defensive plays, especially around the rim. However, playing off instincts also exposed him in some situations, but those are growing pains. Chomche’s energy, activity, and flashes of oozing potential were fun to watch, especially if he’s barely scratching the surface of what he can do. If anything, Chomche’s “recovery range” defensively is so huge, given how light he is on his feet, to go along with his quickness and length. If he figures it out defensively, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

Playing time with the main club was not in Chomche’s cards until the Raptors reached the Tankathon part of their season. Still, he did get the rotation-level type of run against the Philadelphia 76ers. Against Joel Embiid, Chomche had 12 minutes of cardio and acted as a blocking pad. Against Embiid, Chomche looked small physically. Embiid understandably had the strength advantage, but Chomche showed how light he is on his feet and showcased his length. He managed to stay in front of Embiid for the most part and recovered fast enough when he helped out. He did, at times, fall for Embiid’s dirty tricks, and that’s probably his “Welcome to the NBA” story.

Unfortunately, before the All-Star break, Chomche had a freak accident while playing for the Raptors 905. His teammates rolled his knee, resulting in an MCL tear. Overall, Chomche’s rookie season is a moderate success. Still, he’ll need to spend more time with the Raptors 905 next season.

***

Instead of giving individual end-of-season grades for the Two-Way prospects, it’s more appropriate to grade the team’s overall utilization of the two-way roster spots this season. Consider this:

• They have made a long-term move by identifying Chomche and stashing him to a Two-Way spot — an A- move;
• They quickly moved on from Branden Carlson to promote Jamison Battle, whom the organization identified as a Georges Niang-type who can come in at any point of the game and hit a couple of trifectas. This is a solid B+ (the only gripe here is that the Raptors should have used DJ Carton’s spot instead).
• Picking up AJ Lawson to replace Carton is an A+ — he fits the Raptors’ style of play and showed what he can do with the main club.
• Using the spots to evaluate and identify prospects was a solid A+ move, cycling through Carlson, Battle, Orlando Robinson, and Jared Rhoden. They have made a compelling upcoming training camp battle with a lot of continuity and competition for next season’s last few roster spots.

Overall, we give the Raptors an “A” for excellent and creative use of their Two-Way spots.