The Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors agreed to a sign-and-trade on July 9, 2017, one that would swap Raptors’ Cory Joseph for the Pacers’ CJ Miles, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The trade includes Miles taking a 3-year, $25 million contract with the Raptors in a backup combo-guard role. With Miles, Raptors President Masai Ujiri is adding a reliable shooter to his lineups, which rely heavily on the interior scoring of All-Star DeMar DeRozen. Additionally, Serge Ibaka, who resigned in Toronto on July 2 should find himself in a more traditional role utilizing his athleticism as a rim protector and post threat after having increased his 3-point attempts to 4.5 from 3.8 per game following his midseason trade from Orlando. Miles ranked in the league’s top 20 for 3-point shooting percentage for the Pacers in 2016-17, attempting about 5.5 per game of which he made around 41 percent.
Joseph, 25, averaged a career best 9.3 points and 3.3 assists per game for the Raps in 2016-17, his sixth season in the league. The former Texas Longhorn should see a number of minutes in tandem with newly acquired Pacer Victor Oladipo in the backcourt.
The deal was Ujiri’s second in a 24 hour period, as he also sent forward DeMarre Carroll to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a future first round pick and center Justin Hamilton.