Garrett Temple signs with Toronto Raptors on one-year deal

In a locker room with young stars but a lot of questions about direction — and trade rumors flying about — having a stabilizing veteran influence is a smart move.

Which is why the Raptors are bringing in guard Garrett Temple for what will be his 14th NBA season, a story Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke.

Free agent F Garrett Temple has agreed on a one-year, $3.2M deal with the Toronto Raptors, Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Temple — who spent the past two years with the Pelicans — will be playing his 14th NBA season.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 31, 2023

This contract is for the veteran minimum and puts the Raptors at the max of 15 guaranteed contracts heading into training camp. This is bad news for Jeff Dowtin, who now is on the outside looking in at that last roster spot. With Fred VanVleet gone to Houston, the Raptors signed Dennis Schroder for the point, with Malachi Flynn backing him up. There could be minutes for Temple, the solid veteran, in that rotation.

What Temple really brings to the table is a steady form of leadership every team can use. He expressed it best a year ago when Christian Clark of the Times-Picayune interviewed Temple and asked about his longevity in the NBA.

Professionalism. That’s the number one thing I say [to young players], man. If you look across the league at guys, you have two or three guys per team that if they’re a*******, they can stay in the league. If they are real, real a*******, they can stay in the league for maybe five years. The rest of us — if you’re a role player, you can’t be a headache. Because you’re a dime a dozen. They can find another one of you. Professionalism will make you stand out from the bunch. I tell them professionalism. Perseverance. Making sure you believe in yourself. Having a good support system. All of those things.”

The Raptors could use all those things this season, and at the veteran minimum this is a solid pick-up.