TORONTO — Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri is willing to be patient with Sasha Vezenkov.
The 28-year-old forward was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Raptors on June 28 on the second day of the NBA Draft. Vezenkov was sent to Toronto along with Davion Mitchell, the draft rights to Jamal Shead, and a 2025 second-round pick.
Mitchell and Shead have signed deals with the Raptors but Vezenkov has not, with media reports saying he wants to sign a multi-year contract with Greece's Olympiacos in the EuroLeague.
“We're still going through that situation," said Ujiri. "I think that should develop in the next few days or we'll see whether it's a few months."
The six-foot-eight Bulgarian, who was born in Cyprus, averaged 5.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 12.2 minutes per game in his first NBA season. He played in 42 games in 2023-24 and could add some depth at forward to Toronto's bench.
"We acquired a player in a trade and we feel we have communicated well," said Ujiri. "We communicated well with the agent and the team before and so we'll see how that goes.”
The Raptors officially signed all-star forward Scottie Barnes and starting point guard Immanuel Quickley to deals on Monday.
Quickley will have a reported cap hit of US$30.2 million and Barnes, whose new deal kicks in for the 2025-26 season, is still at $10.1 million. Those contracts mean the Raptors have a payroll of approximately $168.8 million next season, $2.2 million below the NBA's luxury tax threshold.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2024.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
