End of an era? Not quite as Raptors waive Butler
And then there were 12.
The Raptors put seldom-used guard Rasual Butler on waivers on Friday afternoon, taking the roster down to a lean dozen for the next few days at least.
Butler hasn’t played a significant minute in weeks and averaged 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in just 13.3 minutes over 34 games; he’s perhaps best remembered for not getting a timeout call in the final seconds of a tough home loss to the Lakers. However, he did have one big night, 13 points and some huge buckets in an early-season win in New York.
By placing Butler on waivers on Friday, the Raptors made it possible for him to catch on with another team and be eligible for the playoffs; he wouldn’t have been had Toronto waited even a day.
There are no plans to immediately replace Butler on the roster but it would be no surprise if someone is signed to a contract at the beginning of next week.
I remember that you mentioned that they'd have to sign a 10 day contract or something in order to get above the minimum salary level allowed. Does releasing Butler mean the team will have to sign more than one of those contracts? Can you expand either here or in a future blog?
Blogger's note: I know they will have to add at least one; and maybe two. But it can be any time before the end of the season and we'll find out for sure soon
Posted by: Peter | March 23, 2012 at 03:44 PM
Wow, how quickly a guy can just "lose" it.
Posted by: JT | March 23, 2012 at 03:54 PM
what's the minimum roster size allowed under the CBA?, we must be getting close to it..I thought this was pretty interesting for the Heat to do, I am in full support of it and would like that picture/poster with the caption " We Are Trayvon Martin"...kudos to the Heat...
http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7728618/miami-heat-don-hoodies-response-death-teen-trayvon-martin
Posted by: doug | March 23, 2012 at 04:09 PM
answered my own question...
Section 1. Active Roster Size.
Each Team agrees to have twelve (12) players on its Active List and to have a minimum
of eight (8) players on the bench for all Regular Season games. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
any Team may from time to time as appropriate, but for no more than two (2) consecutive weeks
at a time during the Regular Season, have eleven (11) players on its Active List.
Posted by: doug | March 23, 2012 at 04:17 PM
You have to have a minimum of 12 players on the active list and a minimum of 8 players dressed for each game. There are provisions that allow for a team to only have 11 players on the active list, but only for 2 weeks at a time.
Posted by: Steve | March 23, 2012 at 04:19 PM
Hola Doug,
Playoff team? If you can't get meaningful minutes on a team with this kind of talent, who has suffered the number of injuries that it has, how by all that is right in the world are you going to make any kind of contribution on a play off team???
Ciao amigo,
marc in panama
Blogger's note: Didn't say it would happen; said it's why they did it today. And 15 minutes after news got out, heard Chicago has interest. Who knows
Posted by: marc in panama | March 23, 2012 at 05:31 PM
Which D-league guard's cell rings?
Posted by: Scott | March 23, 2012 at 06:05 PM
Under the new CBA, the minimum roster size is now 13, but a team that falls below gets a grace period to get back up to the minimum.
Posted by: David | March 24, 2012 at 11:40 AM