Immanuel Quickley has agreed to a five-year, $175 million deal to return to the Toronto Raptors, according to Shams Charania. Quickley was set to be a restricted free agent this summer, but the two sides were able to come to an agreement early due to a new rule in the collective bargaining agreement, which allows teams to start negotiating with their own free agents once the Finals end.
After the season, Quickley told reporters that he hoped to remain in Toronto.
“Absolutely love Toronto since the day I got here, they’ve done nothing but show me love,” Quickley said. “Love is an action word, it’s not just something you just throw around. They’ve done that from the day I got here to today.
“The team and my agent have to handle everything but I love being here in Toronto, absolutely.”
Quickley, the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft to the New York Knicks, arrived in Toronto ahead of the trade deadline last season as part of the OG Anunoby blockbuster. He assumed a starting role and put up some impressive numbers over his first 38 games with the club: 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 39.5% shooting from behind the arc.
A $175 million contract for a player with 65 starts under his belt will understandably result in some serious sticker shock, even with the salary cap set to rise over the course of the deal. There was never much doubt that the Raptors would re-sign Quickley considering he was one of the centerpieces of the Anunoby trade, but it is somewhat surprising that he was able to demand this much money.
There’s no doubt that Quickley has real potential to excel in a bigger role, as he showed towards the end of last season, but this is a calculated gamble by the Raptors that he can be the second-best player on a playoff team. Earlier this month, the Raptors agreed to a five-year extension with Scottie Barnes worth up to $270 million, and RJ Barrett inked a four-year, $107 million extension with the Knicks in 2022 prior to being traded.
Those three are now locked in as the Raptors’ core for the next few years, and it will be interesting to see how they devlop together.
