Raptors waive guard Svi Mykhailiuk

The Raptors have waived deep bench spot contender Svi Mykhailiuk per professional scoopsman Sham Charania.

On merit, it’s not a huge shock to see the Raptors move on from the former Lakers second-rounder. Mykhailiuk averaged just 4.6 points a game across 56 appearances in 2021-22, playing just 12.8 minutes a night and shooting under 31 percent from three-point range — a problem for a guy branded as a shooter coming into the year, despite him never really having much success from long range at any of his NBA stops save for one chunk of a season in Detroit.

After looking like a sure bet to earn rotation minutes during a strong preseason last fall, he never recaptured the flashes of second-side creation he conjured before the games started to matter.

The surprising element of the move is that Svi was on a guaranteed contract after picking up his player option earlier this summer, so the Raptors’ books will take a small hit upon cutting him. That said, between him and new signing Juancho Hernangomez, who himself signed a deal with a guarantee, it seemed likely that Toronto was always destined to eat money to cut bait with one of their training camp invites.

Toronto’s training camp roster now has 19 of 20 spots filled. Who Toronto opts to invite to compete for a spot on the 15-man roster is a little intriguing, but ultimately irrelevant in all likelihood. Technically speaking, the Raptors only have 12 guys on guaranteed deals who seem assured of making the team, but considering the investment the team has put into Dalano Banton and Justin Champagnie, it would be quite a swerve if their non-guaranteed deals aren’t made ironclad before the season gets rolling against Cleveland on October 19th.

That would leave Hernangomez, Gabe Brown, DJ Wilson, and whomever the final invite is to fight it out for a single spot, with Jeff Dowtin and Ron Harper Jr. laying claim to the two-way spots for the time being. If you’re someone who gets off on battles for roster spots that will play little to no minutes, this year’s training camp is not going to be for you, it seems.