Quickley, Raptors to Reach $175M Deal

It is raining money north of the boarder. For the second time in less than a week, the Raptors are backing up the Brinks truck.

Combo guard Immanuel Quickley, who was a restricted free agent this offseason, earned his massive payday on Friday and intends to re-sign with the Raptors, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reported on social media that the guard will receive a five-year deal worth $175M.

Quickley, who finished in second place for the coveted Sixth Man of the Year award in 2022-23 behind Malcolm Brogdon, was the focal point of the Raptors’ return in the OG Anunoby trade with the New York Knicks in December, arriving in Toronto midway through the season along with native son RJ Barrett. Anunoby recently received a $212M contract of his own.

A first-round pick of the Knicks in 2020 out of Kentucky, Quickley played almost exclusively as a reserve and did not start any of the 30 games he played for New York this year. However, after the fourth-year guard went through a change of scenery, he started all 38 games he played for the Raptors and averaged 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists, which would all be career-high marks for Quickley over a full 82-game schedule, establishing himself as part of the team’s long-term future.

Sources ranked Quickley seventh in their list of this summer’s top 50 free agents, Tyler Herro (four years, $120M, plus incentives), Jordan Poole (four years, $123M, plus incentives), and Devin Vassell (five years, $135M, plus incentives) were expected to be a few points of comparison for the guard’s contract negotiations this summer.

While it remains up in the air if Quickley’s $175M will be fully guaranteed, the 25-year-old appears primed and ready to land a bigger piece of the pie than any of those players by securing an annual average value of $35M per year.

It is the second major financial commitment the Raptors will make to a key piece this summer. The team also reportedly intends to sign Scottie Barnes to a five-year rookie scale extension that will begin in 2025-26 and will be worth a projected $225M. If he meets certain requirements, it could jump up even more to $270M.

Neither deal will be set in stone until July, and Toronto will not move with a since of urgency to formally complete Quickley’s deal, since his cap hold is just $12.5M. The Raptors can use up all their cap room while keeping that hold on their books, then go over the cap using Quickley’s Bird rights to sign him to his new deal.