The Raptors have reached a three-year contract agreement with one of their own free agents, center Khem Birch, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The deal will be worth $20M. Toronto held non-Bird rights on Birch, so it will likely use part of its mid-level exception to re-sign him. It’s also conceivable that the Raptors could open up sufficient cap room to make it happen, but if they take back Goran Dragic or another high-salary player in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade with Miami, they’ll need to use the mid-level.
Birch joined the Raptors in April after the rebuilding Magic bought him out. He started 17 of 19 regular-season appearances with the Raptors, averaging 11.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game. The 28-year-old Birch played his first three and a half NBA seasons with Orlando but was mainly used off the bench.
The Raptors waived Aron Baynes on Wednesday, so Birch could compete with Chris Boucher for a starting role with the club.
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