Raptors Sign Benjamin for Backup Role

Benoit Benjamin, who started last season with the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies, was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Raptors. The 7-foot center will play a backup role with the Raptors, behind Sharone Wright, who has been hampered by a bad back.

Benjamin signed a one-year deal for the NBA minimum $247,500.

The No. 3 pick of the Clippers in the 1985 draft, Benjamin was taken by the Grizzlies from New Jersey in last year’s expansion draft. Vancouver dealt him to Milwaukee for guard Eric Murdock and center Eric Mobley last November. The Bucks renounced their rights to him in July.

In an 11-year career, Benjamin has averaged 11.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and two blocked shots a game. He is the Clippers’ all-time leader in blocks with 1,117 in 5 1/2 seasons.

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The Phoenix Suns signed free agent shooting guard Rex Chapman, reportedly to a one-year deal at the league minimum of $247,500. Chapman spent last season with Miami, where he averaged 14 points in 56 games. . . . Chris Childs, expected to replace Derek Harper as the New York Knicks’ starting point guard, will be sidelined three to six weeks because of a non-displaced fracture in his right leg. . . . The Detroit Pistons announced that second-year center Don Reid will undergo knee surgery today and sit out four weeks.