The 2019 Toronto Raptors frontcourt of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka is over, but the Raptors have brought in a very good replacement in Aron Baynes.
The news we were all waiting for finally came when Aron Baynes signed a two-year $14.3 million dollar deal with the Toronto (Tampa Bay) Raptors.
The Raptors have kept Fred VanVleet signing him to a four-year $85 million dollar deal, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announcing minutes after the Baynes news that Chris Boucher, the Raptors 6’9” forward/center has agreed to a two-year, $13.5M deal to stay with the Raptors.
The signing of Baynes and re-signing of Boucher was in response to the Raptors losing out on both the centers who were crucial to the 2019 Champion and 2020 playoff run. Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol, who signed with the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers respectively this offseason in hopes for another title run, departed Toronto in hopes of pursuing championships in a warmer climate.
Baynes brings the Raptors rebounding, passing from the post, and a pick and roll threat as he is one of the strongest screeners in the league — as well as providing the stereotypical “Aussie” grit.
Some believe Baynes added a potent 3-point shooting game in his most recent season with the Phoenix Suns, where he shot a career-high 4.1 attempts per game making 35 percent.
This isn’t true, though. The true-blue Australian represented the Australian Boomers (national team) in the 2019 FIBA World Cup where he tested his limits. Baynes shot 21 3-point attempts in eight games making 52.0 percent. Which was Baynes just dipping his toes in the water for his NBA season, where he attempted 168 in 42 games.
Aron Baynes will step into the now-opened Toronto Raptors frontcourt
Baynes will fill the Gasol role, Baynes is a bulky, defensive big who can shoot and play make (Baynes averaged 1.6 assists per game last season), while the more athletic, wet behind the ears Boucher will fill the Ibaka role as the more athletic, switchable big.
What this means for the Toronto Raptors is this, the center rotation is worsened overall. Gasol and Ibaka are high-level bigs, that’s why the LA teams got them. But, it doesn’t mean it will fall off a cliff, assuming the two stay healthy the Raptors will continue to be a great rebounding team (ranked 11th in rebounds per game last season) and a defensive juggernaut under Coach of the Year Nick Nurse.
The Raptors are in a transition period, Fred VanVleet got a huge, well-deserved contract from the Raptors and Kyle Lowry is aging and will likely take a seat behind VanVleet in seasons to come.
The hope would be the Boucher develops into a playoff useable big (only played seven-game and 6.1 minutes per game in the 2019-20 playoffs) while Baynes acts as a stop-gap and helps Pascal Siakam deal with the Joel Embiid’s and Nikola Jokic’s during the season.
The question remains can Baynes be healthy? Baynes has only played 93 games the past two seasons and it’s likely only going to get worse as he ages.
Hopefully, Baynes is able to mentor both Siakam and Boucher to help them become better defensive bigs for the Raptors’ future, and the Fred Van Vleet or Kyle Lowry pick and pops with Aron Baynes add some needed offense in the Toronto Raptors’ half-court sets.