MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — After an evening of disappointment, former West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate is now a member of the world champion Toronto Raptors.
Konate was not among the 60 selections during Thursday’s NBA draft, but the 6-foot-8 forward signed as a free agent with the Raptors, which was first reported by The Athletic.
No details of the signing have been released, but generally undrafted free agents are signed to non-guaranteed contracts and placed on the team’s summer league roster.
Toronto will take part in the Las Vegas summer league, beginning July 5. The summer league schedule hasn’t been released yet.
Konate, who set the West Virginia all-time record with 191 blocks, would need a good enough showing in the summer league and training camp in late September to warrant a spot on the Raptors’ regular-season roster.
If Konate were to make the team’s final cut, the NBA minimum salary for rookies is $838,464, according to the league’s salary scale.
A second option for Konate would be a two-way contract, which would place the forward on Toronto’s G League team — Raptors 905 — and Konate would earn a prorated salary that is a combination of the NBA league minimum and a regular G League salary.
For the 2018-19 season, a player under a two-way contract earned $77,250, according to a G League press release.
The Raptors have been known to develop talent through Raptors 905.
Forward Chris Boucher was the 2019 G League MVP and he played sparingly in two playoff games with the Raptors.
More notably, guard Fred VanVleet was an undrafted free agent that worked his way from the G League to one of the Raptors’ top contributors off the bench.
VanVleet averaged 14 points per game in this season’s NBA Finals and he started 28 games during the regular season.
With a non-guaranteed contract, the Raptors would not be penalized for releasing Konate before the start of next season.
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