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The back half of the Raptors roster continues to churn with a report now they’re planning on signing Jordan Loyd using one of the team’s two-way contracts. It should be noted there was some intrigue to this deal, as Loyd had to convince his Turkish club, Darussafaka, to agree to a buyout so he could actually come to Toronto. Sportando has the international details here.
NBA deadline for Jordan Lloyd to opt-out of his $370,000 Darussafaka deal is dead. Raptors won't pay for his release, he must convince Turks to let him leave for Toronto.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) July 18, 2018
The story of the Raptors involvement first broke a week ago, with Blake “Who Else?” Murphy handling the details here. The Raptors wanted to sign him, the deadline to do so passed, Toronto could not help with the buyout at all, so Loyd (and his agent, presumably) had to negotiate a way out for him. Fortunately for all involved, it has come to pass and Loyd will be on the Raptors for training camp.
Loyd, 25 years old, listed at 6’4” and 210 pounds, joins the Raptors after having played for them in the last two Summer League tournaments. He got his NBA-adjacent start by playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the then-D-League for the 2016-17 season. That year he tossed in 15.1 points per game, while putting up 4.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists across 49 games. He then jumped to Israel to play for Hapoel Eilat, where he won a few accolades, including being the second-leading scorer in the league for 2017-18. Then it was off to Turkey to join Darussafaka and initiate the current situation.
Loyd’s performance this past July in the Summer League was cut a bit short (by two and a half games) due to back spasms. Still, Toronto has had him around the past two summers, so it’s not a shock to see their continued interest. He joins an end of bench roster that looks almost completely different from last year’s squad: Lucas Nogueira is unsigned, Alfonzo McKinnie is long gone, Malcolm Miller’s qualifying offer was withdrawn, and while Lorenzo Brown has been re-signed for a year, it’s a non-guaranteed deal. Toronto has also brought in Chris Boucher for the time being.
There are still a lot of spots left to fill, assuming the Raptors head into training camp with the allowable 20-man roster. In the mean time, it looks like Loyd’s spot with the Raptors 905 in the G League, and as a back-up back-up guard for the big club, is secure.