Raptors Praise Jeff Dowtin Jr. as Tough Roster Decisions Await

By now, Jeff Dowtin Jr. is probably used to feeling like an outsider.

You may recall how the regular season last year ended for Dowtin who was stuck on a two-way contract and unable to play in the final regular-season games for the Toronto Raptors. When the brief post-season rolled around, Toronto was unwilling to convert his contract to a standard NBA deal and he was ineligible for Toronto’s lone play-in game along with anything that could have come after that.

Well, here he is again, the lone Raptors player on a traditional non-guaranteed deal and once again fighting to prove himself. If Game 1 of the preseason was any indication, things aren’t looking good. The 26-year-old guard was one of just three players who did not play in the game unrelated to an injury.

“He's a very hard worker,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said of Dowtin. “He's an amazing competitor. I feel bad for him for not being able to play in the Summer League. I feel that he lost a little bit of momentum there. But since then, he's doing (an) amazing job. He had a great open gym, great three weeks in LA. He's just the guy that brings it every single day and we like Jeff a lot.”

There is a lot to like about Dowtin. He was one of the few backup guards former head coach Nick Nurse actually trusted for rotation minutes last season. While he’s not going to wow you on either end of the court, he’s “solid,” as Nurse liked to say, and generally reliable for a bench guard.

Keeping Dowtin is going to come at a cost, though. Thad Young was expected to be a roster casualty over the summer, but his $8 million for this season now seems like a valuable trade asset for this year. Otto Porter Jr. was singled out as a player who could bring some valuable three-point shooting to the bench. Garrett Temple, whose veteran leadership has been praised so far this season, seems unlikely to be waived after the Raptors signed him to a minimum deal this past offseason. It’s possible Christian Koloko’s respiratory issue becomes an issue he’s not able to overcome, though he and Dowtin Jr. share virtually nothing in common.

Otherwise, it’s essentially Dowtin vs. Malachi Flynn, the former first-round pick of the Raptors who, save for an impressive April in his rookie season, has yet to show much of anything as he enters his fourth year with the team. Waiving Flynn would be admitting a mistake and create slightly less trade flexibility due to his $3.8 million contract this season, but it’s likely the only way to keep Dowtin with Toronto this year.

Normally the 15^th man spot isn’t much to get worked up about, but considering Toronto’s lack of point guard depth, Dowtin’s future with the team is one to keep an eye on.