Will Cherry agrees to contract with Toronto Raptors: Analysis

Guard Will Cherry has agreed to two-year contract with the Toronto Raptors, according to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

It is a minimum salary deal, but there is no word on how much of it is guaranteed yet. I would guess that a portion of this season is guaranteed, and all of next season is non-guaranteed, given the level of signing and that the Raptors already have two other point guards.

Cherry performed well for the Cleveland Cavaliers at Las Vegas Summer League this season, dropping a couple of efficient 21 point games and averaging three assists per contest. Out of Montana and undrafted in 2013, Cherry played for Canton in the D-League last season and averaged 11.6 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.4 steals in 18 contests. At 6’0, 180 lbs, he’s slightly undersized to play in the NBA. But he’s always looking to attack, and guys that can do that without turning the ball over tend to get looks in camp.

The Raptors are obviously trying to find another diamond in the rough with this signing. They attempted something like this last offseason with Dwight Buycks, but he was recently released and will be playing in Europe next season. It’s pretty fair to say the team doesn’t have much use for him, as Kyle Lowry and Greivis Vasquez will be handling the point guard duties over the next two seasons, relegating Cherry to the bench. More than anything, this is an insurance signing of someone that the Raptors clearly like just in case one of those guys get hurt. They’ll work with him and see if they can get any further skills out of him, but my ultimate guess is that this ends up being a signing that doesn’t amount to much.