Young point guard Kobi Simmons has found a new NBA home. The plummeting Toronto Raptors, losers of 10 consecutive contests, are reportedly signing the 6’5″ Arizona product to a fresh 10-day deal. Shams Charania of The Athletic has the full scoop:
As Charania notes, during his 33 contests this season across the G League’s Showcase Cup and regular season, Simmons posted averages of 15.1 points, 5.6 dimes and 4.2 boards a night. Toronto will mark his fourth NBA club, should he actually suit up for the team before his contract expires. The Raptors had only had 14 players inked to standard deals on its roster, meaning that the team will not need to waive anybody to clear space for Simmons.
Now to his prior NBA history. He was quickly picked up by the Memphis Grizzlies after going undrafted in 2017. Across 32 contests for the Grizz (12 starts) in 2017-18, he notched averages of 6.1 points on .423/.282/1.000 shooting splits, 2.1 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 steals a night. In 26 bouts for the Grizzlies’ then-new NBAGL affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, he averaged 15.1 points on a .437/.361/.766 slash line, 3.9 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and one steal a night.
Simmons next played for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ G League affiliate squad, then called the Canton Charge, for the 2018-19 season. In 35 games (34 starts) with the Charge, he averaged 17.2 points on .437/.279/.897 shooting splits, 3.7 boards, 3.5 dimes and 1.2 swipes. He made a brief cameo with Cleveland on a 10-day deal, appearing in one contest for two minutes
He subsequently played for the Charlotte Hornets’ Greensboro Swarm (and inked a pair of two-way contracts with the Hornets proper). He played in five games for the Hornets while on his second two-way contract with the squad, in 2022-23, averaging 5.6 minutes per. In between his Charlotte/Greensboro tenures, he also played with Polish Basketball League club Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski druing the 2021-22 season. Simmons is an intriguing talent. For a Raptors club that is seemingly lottery-bound this season after dealing away key forwards OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, adding him on a flyer is a worthwhile gander. Here’s hoping it pays off for both sides.
