After Jamal Shead’s ironman season — playing all 82 games — he is being rewarded with job security and a big paycheque, inking a $24 million dollar deal keeping him on the Raptors for the next three years.
This news comes on Thursday from Shams Charania, with the
insider giving few additional details on the terms of the deal, but noting Shead’s playing of every game of last season, while dishing out a league-best 354 bench assists. Shead is built in the mold of other Raptors point guards like Kyle Lowry and Davion Mitchell.
The Raptors are continuing their philosophy of building around two-way players, with the bulldog being retained behind Immanuel Quickley as the Raptors’ backup PG for the beginning of a period of serious contention for Toronto. The underdog, get-it-out-the-mud mindset is clearly present into the 2020s, and the retention of Shead bodes well for keeping a level of grit in the Raptors’ locker room.
This contract comes in the wake of the unfortunate staredown incidentthat he faced at the hands of Dejounte Murray last year, where the team was criticized for its lack of energy in sticking up for their guy after the New Orleans point guard subjected him to some real disrespect. It’s good to see that months later, the franchise is sticking by their guy, and putting their faith and their financials into the undersized but dogged-defender.
