Quincy Guerrier gets chance to improve key areas in Toronto Raptors NBA Summer League

An Elite 8 roster is naturally going to have players head to the next level to compete in the NBA Summer League.

There is a reason the Illinois basketball team was able to get deep into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. The Illini had talent on the roster.

Marcus Domask is getting his shot with the Chicago Bulls. Terrence Shannon Jr. was drafted in the first round and will be an asset to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Along with those two, Illinois has a third player from the roster getting a crack at the NBA.

Former Illini forward Quincy Guerrier will be playing in the 2024 NBA Summer League. Guerrier joins the Toronto Raptors in hopes of getting a bigger contract and at least getting onto their G-League roster.

Guerrier is going to have some solid talent competing against him for a roster spot and playing time. Gradey Dick was the Raptors first-round pick last season. He is back on the roster as a second-year player. Ohio State standout Jamison Battle also got a Summer League invite. He is in the same boat as Guerrier, as they are just trying to stick with a franchise in some form.

It might be a struggle for Quincy Guerrier to sign on with the Toronto Raptors out of the NBA Summer League

I love that Guerrier is at least getting a look in the NBA Summer League. That foot in the door is step one. Step two is showing the team he can play well enough to be an asset to the franchise.

Guerrier was a big part of the Illinois run to the Elite 8 last season. He was a nice big athletic body who could rebound and get us some points when needed. The bad thing for Guerrier is that there are a ton of those types of players also trying to make an NBA roster.

In his lone season at Illinois, Gurrier averaged 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Those are good numbers, but they don’t blow me away when it comes to the NBA.

Guerrier shot 56.9% from the free throw line, which was the worst of his career. You have to have a special ability, like being a dominating rebounder, to shoot that bad from the free throw line and get away with it. That type of shooting is going to hinder Guerrier’s chances so much.

On paper, Guerrier’s 37.4% from the three-point arc looks great, but I think that number is a bit deceiving. He is a streaky three-point shooter, at best. In the NCAA tournament, was 2-of-9, 22.2%, from three-point range. Can Guerrier get you a three-point bucket? Sure, but he is by no means a knockdown shooter.

As an athlete, I love Guerrier. But I believe, and this is just my opinion, it is going to be a tough road for Guerrier to stick in the NBA. He is going to have to improve some key areas for any franchise to give him a shot. Hopefully, that improvement happened between the end of the college season and now.