Raptors sign second-rounder Christian Koloko to rookie deal

The Raptors have signed second-round pick Christian Koloko to a multiyear contract, the team announced.

According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet, Toronto used a portion of its mid-level exception to give Koloko a three-year contract. He’ll earn $1.5M in 2022-23 and minimum salaries the following two seasons, Murphy reports.

Since the Raptors already gave Otto Porter Jr. $6M of their mid-level exception in free agency, using an additional $1.5M on Koloko will push them over the taxpayer portion ($6.48M) of the MLE, so Toronto will be hard-capped for the rest of the season, meaning the team will be unable to surpass the tax apron of $156,983,000.

The 33rd pick of June’s draft, Koloko was one of only three remaining unsigned players who was drafted and wasn’t expected to play overseas. The other two players are Pelicans forward E.J. Liddell, who unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in Summer League, and Pacers forward Kendall Brown.

A 7-foot-1 center from Cameroon, Koloko most recently played for the Raptors in Summer League, appearing in five games (22 MPG) while averaging 7.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.8 SPG and a team-high 2.2 BPG.

Koloko played three seasons of college ball at Arizona, earning numerous accolades for his breakout junior season in 2021-22, including Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player and first-team All-Pac-12. In 37 games (25.4 MPG) for the Wildcats last season, he averaged 12.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.8 BPG while shooting 63.5% from the floor and 73.5% from the line.

Part of the reason for the long delay in Koloko’s signing was speculated to be tied to Kevin Durant‘s trade request out of Brooklyn, as the Raptors wanted to keep their options open in case of a deal. However, Durant and the Nets are said to be “moving forward” together, and now Toronto has signed its lone 2022 draft pick.