One possible fix for the Raptors’ guard problem appears to be slipping away.
Toronto’s playoff exit against the Cleveland Cavaliers exposed a simple issue: when Immanuel Quickley missed the entire series, the team did not have enough ball-handling behind Jamal Shead. That’s why the mention of Walter Clayton Jr. as a waiver candidate for the Memphis Grizzlies immediately made him look like a natural fit for the Raptors.
But that opening may be closing fast. On Thursday, Marc Stein reported in the latest edition of the Stein Line that Jake Fischer had shared an update on Clayton Jr.’s situation, writing: “In a follow-up to his Bleacher Report live stream Tuesday afternoon, Fischer passed along to me that Walter Clayton Jr. has a good chance to survive the roster purge that the Grizzlies must undertake before Opening Night Eve on Oct. 19.”
For Toronto, that is a tough break. Clayton Jr. had the kind of profile that could have checked several boxes at once: a developmental swing, a floor-spacing threat, and a third-string point guard who might have eased the pressure on the backcourt.
Instead, the Raptors may have to keep living with the same concern. The guard room has talent, but the depth behind the top two names remains shaky.
Quickley is expected to be healthy next season, and paired with Scottie Barnes and the arrival of Kawhi Leonard, he should give Toronto plenty at the starter level. Shead also looks like a reliable second option for the second unit, especially after showing he can run the offense well and, with better efficiency, push toward becoming one of the league’s better backup point guards.
Still, the question hangs there: what happens if Quickley gets hurt again, or if Shead’s physical style costs him games? The next names on the list are 2025 undrafted free agent Chucky Hepburn and Jaden Bradley, the No. 50 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Bradley has appeal, and there’s room for the Raptors’ development system to unlock more from him. But he is not the kind of shot-maker or floor spacer Clayton Jr. could have been.
That’s the reality Toronto is staring at now. Injuries can hit at any time, and if one of those top two guards goes down at the wrong moment, the timing could be brutal again. The Raptors learned that lesson last season, and it is exactly the sort of blow that can derail bigger ambitions.
In Other News...
Clippers Letting Kawhi Tension Spill Into A Trade Standoff
The Clippers punishment in the NBA cap circumvention case tied to Kawhi Leonard has already reshaped the conversation around the league, and Toronto is still waiting for the dust to settle on the other side of the deal. Los Angeles lost five first-round picks and $30 million, while Leonard was fined $700,000 but avoided the sort of major discipline that might have altered the bigger picture for the Raptors and everyone else watching the transaction.
For Toronto, the trade has remained in limbo since the early part of the summer, even as the club has continued to believe it will eventually be completed as originally agreed. The Clippers say the delay stems from front office suspensions, but around the league there is a growing sense that the holdup has as much to do with the emotions surrounding the case as it does with procedure, leaving the Raptors to wait on a resolution they still expect to arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Gradey Dick Suddenly Faces A Real Clippers Roster Threat
The Kawhi Leonard trade has only just settled in, but it has already started to reshape the Clippers bench picture, and that matters for Toronto because Gradey Dick has suddenly been pulled into the conversation. Reports indicate Brandon Ingram is expected to stay put for now, while Dicks spot is less certain as Los Angeles sorts through the ripple effects of the deal and evaluates how to trim and rework the roster before camp hardens into the real season.
For the Raptors, the intrigue is not just whether Dick sticks with the Clippers, but what kind of movable piece he has become in that environment. His expiring contract gives Los Angeles a degree of flexibility, and the team could decide it is more useful in a future deal than as a locked-in part of the opening-night group. No final calls have been made yet, but the fact that his name is even in the mix shows how quickly one blockbuster can turn a young player's situation into a test of roster math. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhi Leonard Keeps Reshaping The Pacers In A Way Fans Missed
Kawhi Leonard has had an odd way of leaving fingerprints on the Pacers, even though Indiana never got the chance to build around the player it drafted in 2011 before sending his rights to San Antonio. His career arc has kept looping back into Indianas roster picture in ways that are easy to miss at first glance, especially for a franchise that has had to work its way through a lot of indirect connections rather than direct star catches.
The latest twist is that the Pacers now have Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac as two-thirds of their starting frontcourt, a pairing shaped by moves that were linked back to Leonard long after his own path left the franchise behind. For Toronto fans, it is another reminder that Leonards influence on the league did not end when he moved on from the Raptors, and the ripple effects are still showing up in places no one would have predicted. [Read more 🡒]