Raptors re-sign ‘absolute perfect fit’ Brooks to another contract

The Toronto Raptors close out a six-game road trip in Los Angeles Wednesday night when they face the Clippers. It also was supposed to mark the last day of Armoni Brooks’ stay with the team, but instead he’ll be sticking around after signing another 10-day deal.

“I’m just trying to absorb as much as possible,” Brooks told CityNews before the game. “So I can make this a positive situation, and continue to work and just continue to grow with the team.”

The 23-year-old shooting guard has been on the Raptors’ lengthy road trip and started in their win against the Denver Nuggets on March 12th.

“Being able to get out there and just try and familiarize myself with the system, with the plays and the players was big time for me. It allowed me to get out there and get comfortable with myself.”

Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse said Brooks was an “absolute perfect fit.”

“He’s probably exceeded my expectations from what we knew get could do,” Nurse told CityNews at their shoot-around practice at UCLA on Wednesday. “We knew he could catch and shoot and he’s done that, he’s proven that. But he guarded, he rebounded and was really a good fit teammate-wise. So it was an excellent 10-days.”

Not knowing if he would get another contract after the 10-days were up was a bit of a mental challenge for the 23-year-old but he said he tried his best to keep a positive mindset and take in the culture and experience of the Raptors franchise. That included joining the team’s trip to an exhibit in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday that showcased the life and work of the rapper Tupac Shakur.

“I thought it was really good. My favorite part was probably being able to look at how he would write out his lyrics. I think that was really cool because you can see him like crossing out certain words and rewording things into the songs we know now.”

The Texas native added that in the short time he has been with the Raptors, which were all road games, he has really felt the fan support.

“I knew Toronto had great fans before I joined the team and it’s been cool to see how really supportive of everything they’ve been.”

Brooks inking a basketball contract with the Raptors isn’t his first adventure into Canadian hoops. Before joining the team he was signed to play for Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2020, but that season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“I was doing a lot of research on the team and the city (Saskatoon) looked really nice. I was excited to get out there but COVID kind of messed things up.”

In 2019 he went undrafted and has since been trying to secure a spot on an NBA roster. At the same time he has also launched his own clothing line ‘Till Infinity Clothing Company’.

“I’m actually in the middle of rebranding it because I found a name that I like a little bit better. So we just closed the website but it’s been doing good. I’d released a couple of items just to test the waters and it sold really well so I’m looking to scale that up, continue to grow that and, you know, it’s just something that I can do outside of basketball.”

The Raptors are hoping to extend their winning streak to five games when they face the Clippers on Sportsnet on Wednesday night.