Report: Raptors to sign E.J. Singler to deal

Fresh off a stint with the Raptors 905 and Toronto’s Las Vegas Summer League team, E.J. Singler has apparently agreed to terms on a contract with the Raptors.

Our friend (and bitter rival) Blake Murphy has the scoop:

Singler brings a few things to the table for the Raptors. First and foremost, he’s obviously a guy the franchise brain trust want to have around at training camp (which explains the deal in the first place). Second, he can play a few positions and fit in wherever he’s asked to go. Third, he can shoot the gotdamn lights out — we’re talking a minimum of 37 percent from deep which is, as always, not nothing. It should be mentioned also that his brother Kyle is already in the NBA, and that both Singlers have made some questionable haircut choices in their lives. Such pedigree.

If you’ve been keeping track though, the Raptors have now signed five players to low-end, semi-guaranteed deals. This group includes Fred VanVleet, Jarrod Uthoff, Drew Crawford, Yanick Moreira and now Singler. For a team that has 14 spots locked down on its main roster, the quest for the 15th spot is, as Blake implied in his tweet, very much up for grabs.

With the Delon Wright injury, VanVleet may now be on the inside track for the last roster spot. Meanwhile, Uthoff would give the Raps what they need at the wing/rangy-4 position. To my mind, I’d slot Singler in third for that final spot; there’s a value to his aforementioned skill set, but the ceiling on his abilities remains fairly low. (For the record, Crawford comes in 4th in these non-existent rankings, and alas poor Yanick — I knew him well — is in last.)

In any case, this has been your late-August Raptors update.