The San Antonio Spurs keep losing depth, from Tiago Splitter, to Marco Belinelli, and now Cory Joseph.
According to multiple reports coming from ESPN, Joseph has agreed to sign a four-year, $30 million deal with the Toronto Raptors. The final year of his contract includes a player option.
Joseph, 23, was born in Canada, as he is heading back to his home country by accepting this deal. He has spent all four seasons of his career with the Spurs, as he has grown into a potent defensive, rotational player under head coach Gregg Popovich.
Joseph’s offensive game may not be too glorifying, but he makes it up with his feisty, energetic defense. In fact, his defense was adored by Popovich and earned him significant minutes during the Spurs’ championship run in 2014.
The one-time champion figures to play backup to All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry. During draft night, the Raptors traded backup point guard Greivis Vasquez and needed to fill the void. Although the Raptors selected guard Delon Wright with the 20th overall pick, Joseph is expected to earn most of the minutes in Toronto’s rotation.
Once again the Raptors have added a defensive-minded player. That seems to be the theme to their offseason so far, as they are clearly trying to improve on that end of the floor. They were ranked 26th in opponent field goal percentage during the regular season and last in the same category during the postseason, which ultimately led to their playoff downfall.
DeMarre Carroll was the first defensive-minded player to join the team on a four-year, $64 million deal. The Raptors followed that up with the addition of shot blocking big man Bismack Biyombo on a two-year, $6 million contract.
Perhaps Toronto will now look to add another frontcourt player, one that is offensive minded to keep the balance.