Raptors guard lands two-year NBA contract

With the 2024-25 regular season winding down, this is often a time for rebuilding and non-playoff teams to identify potential young talent and prospects to evaluate for next season. Playoff and play-in teams are looking to fill the back end of their roster. The Toronto Raptors fall in the former category, and they opted to convert AJ Lawson’s two-way contract to a standard deal, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The Raptors had two open roster spots, one of which they used to sign AJ Lawson to a standard contract. The open roster spots came from earlier this week when the team made the decision to cut both Cole Swider and Orlando Robinson.

A Toronto native, the Raptors originally signed Lawson to a two-way contract back in December. He had begun training camp with the Dallas Mavericks, also on a two-way contract, but they cut him before the beginning of the season.

Since December, Lawson had appeared in 24 games for the Raptors, including two starts, at just about 18 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists with splits of 42.8 percent shooting from the field, 33.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 62 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

His points, rebounds and assists are all career-highs. His best game of the season came during a win against the Washington Wizards back on March 10. He dropped a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the three-point line.

Lawson originally went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, and his first NBA experience came that year in summer league with the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. His first NBA regular season experience came during the 2022-23 season when he signed a two-way contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Wolves ended up cutting Lawson about one month after signing him, and he was picked up by the Mavericks shortly after. Lawson spent the remainder of the 2022-23 season, and the 2023-24 season with the Mavericks, being a part of the team that made a run to the 2024 NBA Finals.

When the Mavericks cut Lawson during camp, he joined the Long Island Nets, the G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets. After playing on two-way contracts for the past couple of seasons, Lawson now gets a little roster security.