Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2025 Free Agents - A.J. Lawson
Lawson went undrafted in 2021, and has spent the majority of the last few seasons on a two-way contract, which was converted to a standard contract late in the '23-'24 season. He only played about 200 minutes of non-garbage time in 27 games in '23-'24. He got some decent minutes in the final 20 games or so for the Raptors in '24-'25, but they were in full tank mode by then. Lawson has been productive in the G-League, scoring over 15 points per game on good efficiency (64% true shooting), using his elite athleticism to finish strong inside. He needs to improve as a shooter to be a real threat in the NBA, but he has shown improvement and hit 36% from three in the G-League and 34% in the NBA in '24-'25, and 34% in the NBA. Lawson will be 25 years old as a potential free agent in 2025, so he's not exactly a young prospect but he's young enough that there's reasonable expectation for improvement.
Summary
Lawson's $2.3 million salary for 2025-2026 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Raptors will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, any team could claim him off waivers since his contract fits within the minimum salary exception. If Lawson becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Lawson is waived and clears waivers, his value will likely have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum, and he may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.
Cap Considerations
Kevin Knox (1 year non-guaranteed minimum, 2024) Darius Bazley (1 year non-guaranteed minimum, 2023) Kessler Edwards (2-1 year minimum, 2022)