Both the Toronto Raptors and Kevin Punter had serious talks for a potential deal, but the EuroLeague star ultimately passed up the opportunity to suit up in the NBA.
He went on to sign a contract extension with the Partizan Belgrade for two more years. Punter averaged 15.5 points in 34 games last season.
“We were talking with the Raptors really heavily. I thought that was going to be an opportunity. We’ve been speaking with them for a while now, so I thought that was possible I was going to go to Toronto,” Punter told Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. “It didn’t work out. Obviously, it’s a game of leverage. You can’t give the NBA too much of your leverage because the NBA will take it and run with it.”
The Raptors absorbed a major void and lost Fred VanVleet this free agency as the star point man inked a lucrative deal with the Houston Rockets. The club went on to tap Dennis Schröder in a reported two-year deal worth $13MM.
