The Raptors have added another guard to the mix, signing free agent Malachi Smith, the team announced in a press release.
Smith is 26 and went undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2023. He spent most of his first three pro seasons in the G League before landing with Brooklyn in March. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard first got there on a pair of 10-day deals, then turned that into a two-year minimum contract.
Brooklyn eventually picked up the second-year team option for 2026/27 in June, but the $2.15MM salary was still fully non-guaranteed. Last month, the Nets moved on from him as they tried to create as much cap room as possible.
Smith got a real run with a lottery-bound Nets team late in the season, and he made the most of it. In 15 NBA games, including four starts, he put up 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 23.9 minutes per game while shooting .485/.435/1.000. Before that call-up, he was productive for the Long Island Nets in the G League, averaging 14.4 PPG, 5.7 APG and 5.6 RPG across 39 games and 28.7 minutes per night, with a .520/.422/.769 shooting line.
Toronto didn’t spell out the exact terms of the agreement, but Smith’s deal is not listed in the NBA’s transaction log. That points to a non-guaranteed training camp contract, since the league’s log doesn’t include Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 deals.
The Raptors now have 20 players under contract, leaving them one shy of the offseason limit. That group includes Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, as the team’s tentative deal for Kawhi Leonard has still not been finalized.
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