“This Is Why Vezenkov Can’t Leave Raptors So Easily – What Are His Options”

On Thursday afternoon (04/07) his friends Olympiakou were filled with excitement, as it became known that Sasha Vezenkov has definitively chosen to return to Piraeus and leave the NBA.

Nevertheless, one day later, the well-known NBA reporter, Keith Smithwho is heavily involved in the contract part, said in a tweet that it is not that easy for the Bulgarian forward to leave the Raptors, even if he wants to.

In fact, the authoritative reporter analyzed this point of view in an extensive text dedicated to Vezenkov, on the “Spotrac” website. In this article he analyzed all the parameters that make it difficult to “release” the former Euroleague MVP from his contract in NBA but also the options he has.

In particular, he emphasized that the options for him to remain free Vezenkov there are two. First, he can ask the Raptors to place him on their roster waiverswait 48 hours and hope that no other team will absorb his contract, and then sign to Olympic.

This choice, however, will hardly be accepted by his team Torontowhich will need to pay in this case 6.6 million dollars (the amount in Vezenkov’s contract for the 2024-25 season) for… nothing, as the Bulgarian will be gone. This is the so-called dead money, which takes away space in the salary cap without any countermeasure.

The second and more logical option for Sasha is to negotiate with them Raptors a certain one buy-out, sacrificing part or all of his contract. Even if this happens, however, it will still be on the list waivers and will have to wait 48 hours before being free to return to Europe.

The last scenario is what Olympiacos avoids. The Raptors that is, decide that they want to keep Vezenkov, either because they value him as a player and think he can help them, or for some package in a future trade, or because they just don’t want to lose 6.6 million dollars. In this case, it is not up to the player to do anything.

All we know, therefore, certainly according to Smith, is that Vezenkov wants to return to Olympic. But that is not entirely up to him, and he will need to work with the Raptors in order to be able to stay free. Everything will be judged according to the moods of his club Toronto and it will definitely take a lot of patience.