{"id":707577,"date":"2026-04-10T18:12:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/707577\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T18:12:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T18:12:54","slug":"toronto-raptors-announce-release-of-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/707577\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors Announce Release Of Player\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2262561783.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>CHICAGO, ILLINOIS &#8211; FEBRUARY 19: Head coach Darko Rajakovic of the Toronto Raptors looks on during the first half against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on February 19, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Daniel Bartel\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>On Friday evening, the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Toronto Raptors\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/toronto-raptors\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221494\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Toronto Raptors<\/a> will be in Manhattan to face off with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"New York Knicks\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/new-york-knicks\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221490\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Knicks<\/a> at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n<p>The Raptors are coming off a 128-114 victory over the Knicks (at home in Canada).<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Brandon Ingram\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/brandon-ingram\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221492\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brandon Ingram<\/a> led the team with 37 points.<\/p>\n<p>Toronto Raptors Announce Release Of Player<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5812696\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5812696\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1701904859.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"557\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5812696\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyHead coach of the Toronto Raptors Darko Rajakovic speaks during media day on October 2, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/tyreke-key\/\" title=\"Tyreke Key\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221505\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyreke Key<\/a> was recently <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Raptors\/status\/2041175678142329003\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">signed<\/a> by the Raptors (on April 6).<\/p>\n<p>That said, he has not played in a game for the team.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BlakeMurphyODC\/status\/2042370696781647994\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Blake Murphy of Sportsnet wrote (on April 9):<\/a> \u201cTyreke Key is inactive again tonight. It\u2019s possible he ends up a \u2018Phantom Raptor\u2019 like Justice Winslow, on the team but not on the official play register.<\/p>\n<p>I say that because Raptors will need to cut Key before tomorrow\u2019s game if they want to convert Lawson or Martin on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before Friday\u2019s game against the Knicks, the Raptors have now announced that they had waived Key.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JLew1050\/status\/2042627546223652941\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Josh Lewenberg of TSN wrote:<\/a> \u201cThe Raptors have waived Tyreke Key. They\u2019ll be able to convert one of their two-ways, AJ Lawson or <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Alijah Martin\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/alijah-martin\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221493\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alijah Martin<\/a>, to a standard <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"NBA\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221491\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA<\/a> contract before the end of the weekend, making them playoff eligible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Raptors have waived Tyreke Key. They\u2019ll be able to convert one of their two-ways, AJ Lawson or Alijah Martin, to a standard NBA contract before the end of the weekend, making them playoff eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Key\u2019s G League Season<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5888999\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5888999\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775844773_789_GettyImages-1248002123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"519\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5888999\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyTyreke Key #4 of the Tennessee Volunteers drives down the court against the Missouri <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" title=\"Tigers\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/detroit-tigers\/\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221496\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tigers<\/a> in the first half during the quarterfinals of the 2023 SEC Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Key has yet to make his NBA debut after two seasons in the G League.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2026 regular season, he had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/gleague\/players\/k\/keyty01d.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">averages<\/a> of 16.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest while shooting 52.1% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range in 33 games (14 starts).<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/benstinarheavy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ben Stinar<\/a> Ben Stinar has been covering the NBA for over seven years.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nHe has written for OnSI, Forbes, Amico Hoops, The Big Lead and had a podcast with former All-Star Jameer Nelson. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/benstinarheavy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Ben Stinar<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Raptors\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty CHICAGO, ILLINOIS &#8211; FEBRUARY 19: Head coach Darko Rajakovic of the Toronto Raptors looks on during the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,6,681,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-707577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-raptors","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-raptors","13":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116381772679075142","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}