Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley intends to sign a five-year, $175 million contract to remain with the team. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news Friday morning.
The Raptors acquired Quickley in the blockbuster trade that sent OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks ahead of last season's trade deadline. The 25-year-old guard is a restricted free agent this offseason, but Toronto made it a priority to secure his future alongside Scottie Barnes.
Quickley showed a lot of promise during his time with the Knicks after he was selected 25th in the 2020 NBA Draft, but it became clear last season that his future wasn't in New York. Knowing that, the Raptors made it a point to get him in the Anunoby trade to make him a part of their new young core. He immediately became Toronto's full-time starting point guard, starting 38 games and averaging 18.6 points, 6.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 42.2% from the field and 39.5% from 3-point range.
The guard will look to take another step forward in his first full season with the franchise and with potentially an even bigger minutes load. He played 33.3 minutes per game with the Raptors after playing just 24.0 minutes per game this past season in New York.
The Raptors' future with Immanuel Quickley
After trading away OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam this past season, the Raptors finally went into a much-needed rebuild. Toronto also got RJ Barrett in the deal with New York, making Barrett, Barnes and Immanuel Quickley the main core of the roster moving forward. The Raptors went just 25-57 last season, but they unfortunately lost their own first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs because of the Jakob Poeltl trade. They did have the No. 19 pick from the Indiana Pacers thanks to the Siakam deal, which turned into Ja'Kobe Walter.
Poeltl is still around, at least for now, and a decision must be made on free agent Gary Trent Jr. Toronto did just make an intriguing mover earlier this week, acquiring Davion Mitchell and Sasha Vezenkov for Jalen McDaniels in a trade. The Raptors also have youngsters Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji to go along with Walter.
With Quickley and Barnes now set to sign new long-term contracts, Toronto is hoping these two will help lead them into the future. The Raptors still probably won't be all that good in 2024-25, but they could be feisty, especially if these two continue their development. Quickley might not ever be an All-Star, but there's still untapped potential there that could boost this rebuild.
If this young core develops and some of the other young guys become key contributors, Toronto could be a problem in the next few years. The Raptors likely still need another legitimate star next to Barnes at some point, but for now, they're going to see what they have with this group of youngsters.
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