Raptors’ 2025 NBA free agency target: Jake LaRavia
The Raptors spent last season figuring things out. This year, it’s about turning those lessons into wins, and building a culture that sticks.
Most of the offseason talk so far has been about adding a backup center or finding guards who can defend and shoot. That’s understandable—on paper, the bench already has plenty of young wings behind Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and R.J. Barrett, maybe even too many.
But the team is still missing one specific piece: a 3/4 forward who can actually stay in the rotation, hold up on defence, and offer consistent outside shooting—someone who can reliably play the power forward when Barnes isn’t on the floor.
Ochai Agbaji showed his growth last year, and Ja’Kobe Walter will get many more opportunities entering his sophomore year. But guys like Walter and Gradey Dick are more 2/3s with thinner frames. Jonathan Mogbo can sometimes share the floor with Poeltl, but his 24.3 percent from deep remains a major limiter. And with limited screening, finishing, and dribbling, he doesn’t offer enough elsewhere on offence to justify minutes on a winning team.
That’s where Jake LaRavia becomes relevant—a young forward who might quietly fill one of the Raptors’ most overlooked needs. He isn’t the flashiest name out there, but he quietly ticks a lot of boxes for what the Raptors actually need. He shot over 42 percent from 3 last season between Memphis and Sacramento, and he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make an impact. He spaces the floor, moves well off the ball, and holds up defensively across multiple spots. At 6-foot-7, he saw plenty of minutes at the 4 too, regularly matching up with opposing power forwards in both stops.
One of the more overlooked parts of LaRavia’s game is his passing. In 47 games with the Grizzlies this year before the midseason trade, he posted a 16.4 assist percentage, which put him in the 81st percentile among forwards. More telling, though, was his assist-to-usage ratio—1.07, landing him in the 95th percentile. That kind of number tells you he didn’t slow the offence down or try to do too much. He just made quick, smart reads whenever the ball swung his way. He’s a player who, though young, already knows his role and plays within it. For a team like the Raptors, built around multiple high-usage creators like Barnes, Barrett, Ingram and Immanuel Quickley, having someone who can keep the ball moving without needing touches is huge. LaRavia doesn’t force plays, doesn’t overhandle, and doesn’t need to dominate the ball to be useful. That’s exactly the kind of steady, low-maintenance role player this bench unit has been missing.
Since joining the Kings, LaRavia quietly took a step forward as a finisher, converting 82 percent of his shots at the rim over 19 games—ranking in the 99th percentile among forwards, per Cleaning The Glass. It’s a small sample, but it points to real touch and decision-making around the basket. Paired with his 42.3-percent perimeter shooting this season—LaRavia profiles as a reliable two-level scoring threat who doesn’t need touches to be effective. Much like Agbaji, but at a different position, LaRavia will simply pick the low-hanging fruit and convert what others create for him.
According to NBA.com’s tracking stats, more than half of his attempts this season came around the rim, usually off cuts or smart movement without the ball. About a third of his shots were catch-and-shoot jumpers, and he hit almost 44 percent of those 3s. He understands his role—move, space the floor, and take the right shots.
LaRavia is not coming in to be a focal point, but as a low-usage bench forward who can back up the 3 and 4 positions, space the floor, drive and make the right reads, and finish plays when defences collapse. He fits exactly what the Raptors have been missing behind Scottie Barnes. And the results speak for themselves—he posted a plus-4.6 net rating this season, which ranked better than 58 percent of players league-wide, according to 3StepsBasket. Even without big numbers, he helped his team win minutes when he was on the floor.
Defensively, LaRavia isn’t locking up stars, but he stays active and involved. He’s got quick hands—he digs into drives, swipes at loose balls, and helps create turnovers. In Sacramento, the Kings’ defence forced 2.5 percent more turnovers when he was on the floor. That doesn’t happen by accident. For a young bench forward that could immediately fit in the rotation, that kind of energy and awareness is exactly what you want.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: LaRavia’s contract situation makes him even more appealing. Back in late October, Memphis declined LaRavia’s fourth-year rookie-scale option. Under the CBA, teams that decline a third or fourth-year option on a rookie contract aren’t allowed to re-sign that player for more than the value of the option they declined. That restriction stays in place even after a trade. Since LaRavia is still on a rookie-scale deal, the most they can offer him is around $5.1 million in the first year, which takes them out of the running if another team decide to offer more.
The Raptors have about $7.8 million in space under the tax, but most of that will be used to sign their ninth overall pick, who’s expected to make around $6.6 million. That doesn’t leave much room to make a real offer to LaRavia.
If they want to beat what the Kings can offer—around $5.1 million, Toronto would need to free up a bit more space. That likely means making decisions on both AJ Lawson and Colin Castleton, whose contracts are non-guaranteed. By clearing their combined $4.4 million, Toronto could open up close to a $5.6 million room. It’s not a huge number, but it could be just enough to pull him away from Sacramento.
Signing LaRavia would represent little risk but a near-guaranteed, though modest, reward. An inexpensive player from whom the Raptors know what they will get. That’s the type of addition that good teams don’t overlook.
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