Toronto Raptors Sign Jaden Bradley to Multi-Year Deal

The Toronto Raptors have moved quickly to lock in one of their own.

Jaden Bradley, the steady-handed guard who grew into a star at Arizona, has signed a multi-year deal with the franchise, the team announced. True to club policy, the Raptors kept the financial details under wraps, but the message is clear enough: they see the 50th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft as part of their long-term backcourt picture.

At six-foot-three and 205 pounds, Bradley arrives with a college résumé that reads like a blueprint for a modern lead guard. Last season as a senior, he drove Arizona’s run to the Final Four and walked away with Big 12 Player of the Year honours. Across 39 games, he averaged 13.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 30.6 minutes, earning spots on both the Big 12 First Team and the conference’s All-Defensive Team.

That combination of playmaking and perimeter pressure is what intrigued Toronto’s front office. He’s not just a scorer. He organizes, he defends, he competes.

Summer League offered an early glimpse of how that might translate. In five games with the Raptors, Bradley posted 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 20.5 minutes per outing, shooting 32.4 per cent from the field. The efficiency numbers will need to climb, but the all-around involvement—on the glass, as a passer, as a defender—fit the profile of a guard who impacts possessions even when his shot isn’t falling.

Bradley’s path to Toronto has wound through two of college basketball’s biggest stages. A native of Rochester, N.Y., he opened his collegiate career at Alabama in 2022-23, where he was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. He then spent three seasons at Arizona from 2023-26, steadily growing from promising recruit into the heartbeat of a Final Four team.

The ripple effect of his signing was immediate.

By moving Bradley onto a standard NBA contract, the Raptors freed up a two-way slot. They wasted no time filling it, converting guard Malachi Smith, who now steps into a more formal role after a season of grinding on the margins.

Smith, 26, split last year between the Brooklyn Nets and their G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. In 15 NBA appearances with Brooklyn, he averaged 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists, showing he could hold his own in rotation minutes. His G League numbers were even stronger: 14.4 points, 5.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds across 39 games for Long Island.

For Toronto, this is roster-building in layers. Bradley gets the security and responsibility of a multi-year deal. Smith earns a two-way spot that rewards his production and keeps him within reach of NBA minutes.

Two guards, two different entry points into the league, both now tethered to a Raptors organization that is clearly betting on backcourt depth and development. How quickly that bet pays off will shape the next phase of their rebuild.