Toronto Raptors 2024 Draft Guide

Toronto Raptors 2024 Draft Guide

Hello everybody welcome back we’re doing an NBA draft guide specifically in regards to what I think the Raptor should do so sit back relax let’s take a look I’m in the easy trash can right now ready to create some content that hopefully you enjoy so let’s start NBA draft is in a couple of days uh so let’s take a look at the situation heading into the draft number one we’ll start with a quick draft overview um just looking at the general stuff regarding the NBA draft it’s a little different this year so we’ll go over that we’ll look at the state of the Raptors roster kind of what they need what they’re looking for and the draft strategy that they should employ and the last uh little bit we’ll talk about the actual draft prospects the guys that I think that the Toronto Raptor should take a hard look at at their respective picks of 19 and 31 so without any further Ado let’s begin okay let’s start with some draft facts first of all the Toronto Raptors as I mentioned have the 19th and 31st overall pick those picks were both acquired via trade the Raptors lost their first round pick this year as probably all of you know to the San Antonio Spurs was the eighth overall pick uh that is gone now so they’re left with the 19th and 31st overall pick acquired from the cakam and the OG anobi deals number two the draft will be done in two parts this year the first will be on the 26th it will be the first round of the draft and then the following day they will do the second round in which the Toronto Raptors have the first overall pick in the second round and I think that might be actually a little interesting for the Raptors it’s a little wrinkle that might give make that pick more desirable for other teams giving other teams a day to collect themselves and think about who is left on the board maybe gives the Raptors a little bit more leverage maybe they could deal that pick for something that they want let’s talk about kind of the general consensus about this draft and pretty much every draft expert uh that I’ve seen anyways thinks that this draft is below average I’ve heard people say that it’s a terrible draft I’ve heard other people say that you know it’s it’s on the bad end of decent uh it’s not very good especially at the top there’s no consensus number one guy and there’s a lot of players that could boom or bust especially in the top half of the draft but I think that there are solid prospects for the Raptors available at the 19th pick and in terms of the second round they might be able to find somebody there although second round picks are always hit or miss and usually on the Miss end of that Spectrum so let’s take a look at my general thoughts on draft strategy and sort of team building let’s put it that way what do I think about building a team and drafting is definitely probably the Toronto Raptor’s best quality first of all teams could always use more forwards and wings and I think that that is true because uh those players players can fit into more lineups there’s more minutes available for those types of players forwards um Can often play as bigs in uh small ball lineups uh so there’s minutes at those spots and often Wings can play as guards especially if you have playmaking from your front Court those are the guys that usually teams are looking to to assemble a lot of uh you can get a lot of them on your team without it being too redundant guards and bigs are on the other end of that spectrum they are a lot of the time essential to build a complete and competitive roster but at the same time there are less minutes available for them because teams that run uh two guard lineups and double big lineups have not been successful in the past you know 20 odd years uh generally is a team building strategy you do not want two small guards on the floor at the same time and the same is true for two bigs generally you don’t want two bigs on the floor at the same time um the only exception to that rule that I’ve seen in the past couple of years is Minnesota and that kind of uh works because Carl Anthony towns is more of a power forward Center hybrid and a shooting ability allows him to play alongside Rudy go be so there’s situations where that can happen but generally the idea is that you only want one guard well one small guard and one big on the floor at the same time the last point is that whenever you are picking up a player two of the biggest skills that you are looking for two things that are almost always important that you are looking for in any draft prospect is their ability to shoot the three-point shot and defense those are two things that will immediately bump your stock up if you can do both of those things you almost assuredly have a role in the NBA but at any spot on the floor it used to be that centers weren’t expected to shoot threes now they are um getting defense from your guard spot can often be one of like a something that defines a playoff series so those two things are always things to look out for now let’s take a look at the Toronto Raptor depth chart and obviously when we look at a depth chart for a team that is not in contention um you have to put a grain of salt on a lot of the people who are on this list for example we don’t know if Gary Trent Jr or Bruce Brown are going to be back whether they’re going to be traded or not picked up in free agency and then there are guys like yakob purle and Kelly o linck who aren’t maybe certain to be part of the team’s long-term Outlook so penciling them in at those spots pencil them in don’t pen them in because uh they may be here now but they might not be here in the future and building for the future is kind of what the Toronto Raptors should be doing at this point the Toronto Raptors um have a manual quickly who I’m a big fan of and I think that I think he will be signed this offseason and um but behind him they have Javon Freeman Liberty who I kind of like is as a a guy that they could develop and see what they have but he is not somebody that I would consider to be a a blue chip Prospect a guy that I am incredibly confident is going to make it so I think that back back up point guard and backup guard in general is someone that the Toronto Raptors could use another thing is that if you’ve noticed after they dealt OG anobi and Pascal cakam while they still have Scotty Barnes who is an All-Star caliber forward they don’t really have many forwards I don’t really consider RJ Barrett to be a forward I think he’s more of a wing oai agbaji has potential but still is a question mark outside of Scotty Barnes there’s not really many forwards on the Rost that you would be confident to include in your rotation for the next 5 years so that is a want for the Toronto Raptors for sure uh last but not least I’ll just reiterate the point that the Toronto Raptors could use Talent everywhere um a lot of the players on the team currently may not be here in the next couple of years the only guys that I’m like super confident will be back are Scotty Barnes RJ Barrett Emanuel quickly and to a lesser extent Grady dick but outside of that they could use some Talent let’s put it that way um okay for the next part of the video I think that we should take a look at some of the players that I believe the Toronto Raptors should take a look at at their various draft positions so first of all um who should they draft at number 19 and as you can see on the slide here um I’ve put whoever drops so players who drop out of the lottery that happens quite a bit uh most recently that happened to cam Whitmore uh he was projected to go top five and he fell out of last year’s draft all the way down from top five to the late teens there are there’s potential that a player like that may drop to you and uh some of the guys that I think I would be very happy if they dropped and I’ve seen their names mentioned as players who perhaps don’t have a home in the lottery or maybe teams have soured on them a little bit whatever I’ve seen their names mentioned Cody Williams Ron Holland uh nicoa topic uh Rob Dillingham those guys I think I mean at pick 19 in this kind of draft I think the Raptors would want to scoop those players up if they were to drop to them and there’s a couple of other guys too but if if you see a player drop really far from their projected mock position I think that taking them at 19 would be a very good value proposition I think this also applies if the Toronto Raptors who have been rumored to perhaps want to move up in the draft perhaps one of these players falls into to the late Lottery the Raptors could look to try and package their pick the 19th pick with another asset and then try and move up and and draft one of those players that would also make sense and I’d be a fan of that as well uh so let’s take a look at who’s next um the guy I like and th this will start the list at players who I believe will be available at pick 19 the first of whom is bub Carrington uh now bub Carrington is a very intriguing process ECT he’s only 18 years old he will turn 19 in about a month uh but he’s a freshman out of Pittsburgh um he’s 65 and with a 68 wingspan and he plays point guard so all of those things should peque your interest right away uh a player with his measurements and size the ability to play a guard position that’s always a good combination um when it comes to roster building because as I mentioned the Toronto Raptors have a manual quickly on the roster and he is is a small guard and you don’t want to have multiple small guards on the floor at the same time however if you were to get a guard who was say 65 with a 68 wingspan and was decent defensively that’s a lineup that could work so if you were to draft Bob Carrington um at 19 and then put him in a backup roll he could come off of the bench in spts play with a manual quickly and they could share more minutes than say two smaller guards could and that’s not the only reason that I’m interested in BB Carrington I think that uh Bob Carrington although his his stats did not jump off the page I think that his size fluidity the way that he looks on the court his ability to create shots off of the dribble and I think that that would be a really enticing package he does need development as I mentioned he’s not very efficient um part of that is taking a lot of long twos part of that is the fact that he requires work on finishing he still he’s young he needs to work on his body uh get stronger and he needs more reps so he he needs the Raptors if they were to draft Bob Carrington would have to be willing to give him the amount of development time that he requires and I think in their position that is definitely doable and perhaps that would be a reason why he would be available at pick 19 because the teams in the Toronto Raptor draft range are generally teams that made the playoffs and perhaps are not looking to add a player who requires as much development as Bob would I think that he is a very enticing upside pick for the Toronto Raptors and that’s why I have him at number two here after the picking up a player who drops out of the lottery uh next up we have zachi and this is probably going to be a bit of a controversial one and in fact I’m I’ve been sort of in and out on Zach Edy for a couple of months now because I think we’ll start with the negatives here I think that’s appropriate because there’s a lot of things to unpack and we should start with the negatives right now because they’re pretty glaring uh the first is that he fits this kind of archetype of a player who’s very good in college but maybe might not translate to the pros uh because those types of players are generally older which Zach is he’s 22 years old um and they physically outmatch the players who play in college generally smaller and less athletic players and that does fit him he is an older player who is you know enormous and uh use that to his Advantage let’s put it that way two-time National Player of the Year also another thing is that he has slow foot speed and in the NBA that can be just kind of the kiss of death for Bigs because it limits the amount of coverages that you can play in the pick and role low footp speed bigs are generally uh consigned to playing what’s known as drop defense where the big drops deeper into the paint and tries to cut off an Avenue to the basket and in certain pick and roles like against a team with a stretch five that can just lead to tons of open three-point shots and so he could be a liability at the next level because of that let’s go kind of into what I think makes him an interesting Prospect at pick 19 uh the first off is just you have to look at this the statistics his stats are insane um he averaged 25 points per game on fantastic percentages 25 points 12 rebounds two blocks two turnovers in 32 minutes per game uh the advanced stats said that when he was on the floor they were a juggernaut and when he left they were not very good another thing is that yes he was dominant in college because of his size Advantage but guess what he is 7′ for 300 lb he’s not just going to have a size advantage in college he’s going to have a size advantage in the NBA as well there are almost no players that match that physical description within the NBA he’s only 2 Ines shorter than Yao Ming who is very similar player to him in terms of athleticism and size but this is a new NBA where traditional bigs who only stand next to the basket they’ve kind of been played off of the floor in the past so that’s something that you have to consider uh he has a very soft touch around the rim he likes to get to his spot which is near the basket not directly under he doesn’t have to dunk in order to finish he has a nice hook shot he has a good drop step he has an array of moves that at his size make him a potent offensive threat and the fact that he can execute those moves means that I have a high degree of certainty that he would be able to contribute on offense in the NBA and to add to that he has a decent to good free throw shooting percentage which means that he has the potential to be able in the future to perhaps stretch it out and take three point shots Al Brook Lopez last but not least I want to talk about Zack Edy’s kind of mentality his high motor the ability to play a lot of minutes those are things that I think separate him from a lot of large players that have come out of college he has wanted to get get better and he has improved almost every season and he really does seem to have that Winners mentality he likes to work he likes to play he likes contact he likes blocking shots he wants to win those are really good qualities to have in a player not just in the locker room but in terms of reaching your ceiling players with a good work ethic and a strong motor are more likely to get there so I think that that is something to consider when you think about drafting Ed as a prospect and lastly pick 19 it’s not like I’m suggesting drafting Zack Edy at fifth overall or eighth overall where the Raptors were originally slated to pick this is pick 19 I think that having a swing for the fences Type move where you know it’s a bit of a gamble that might be the right place to pick Zak I do not think that he’s going to make it into the second round I think that this is kind of his draft range pick 19 is where you could see someone taking Zack Ed and hoping that he puts it together at the next level so that’s kind of my case for drafting Zach Edy it’s obviously a bit of a risky move but that’s who I have at number three here on my who to pick at 19 moving on let’s talk uh donon Holmes so don Holmes is slated to go later than 19 but I like him as a prospect as I mentioned when we were talking about what the Raptors need they could use a stretch forward or big donon Holmes this past season he is a junior from uh Dayton and he shot the three ball very well uh 38% on decent volume and he generally just has a good feel for the game which puts him ahead of guys that are in a similar draft range uh to him he’s a little older but he knows how to play the game and he can contribute on the defensive side of the ball they asked him to do quite a bit uh in Dayton uh because he was one of their only competent forward slbs and so he did he he scored 20 points per game contributed with rebounds and blocks but at the next level I think you’re looking at a guy who’s going to be a good role player uh he’s 610 has a 7-1 wingspan and he can play the four or the five he’s a little undersized for the five but in the right lineup I think he could easily play the five at the four he’s not going to be an offensive Juggernaut I think a lot of his moves they’re not advanced moves let’s put it that way he can do he’s mobile he can catch the ball um at around the free throw line and get in and finish but he is more of a um play finisher than a guy who can create but that seems like something that the Raptors could really use I think that a three and d uh forward SL big is kind of exactly what the Raptors could use moving forward especially alongside Scotty Barnes Scotty Barnes is going to be getting into the paint and you’re going to want to have guys that can stretch the floor out for him while at the same time contributing on the defensive side of the ball and rebounding so I think it’s a very compelling package he’s not a sexy pick he’s not like Bob carington or even Zach Ed he’s seems a little safer but at the same time I like the package there I think that he has a good set of skills height wingspan and I think that he knows how to play the game and those three things when you combine them together and add the ability to shoot that’s an interest interesting Prospect and that’s somebody that I think that the Raptors should consider at pick 19 moving on let’s talk about the second round because the Raptors do have the 31st overall pick and just like the 19th overall pick there are guys who I would like to see the Toronto Raptors draft if they were to drop into the second round and I don’t know how likely it is that they do but let’s talk about them anyway Tyler Smith almost made one of uh my pick at 19 so I I kind of wanted to talk about him at 19 but I think that there are enough flaws in his game that I would not be comfortable drafting him at pick 19 he played for the g-league ignite which just a horrible development program there um they’ve wasted a lot of potential it seems like they didn’t have a coherent plan for you know putting these guys in a position to succeed so that’s kind of of a plus actually for him um he’s a good athlete 610 uh 7-1 wingspan the problem with him is that he doesn’t his processing isn’t quite there yet especially on the defensive end so he’s he’s pretty young I believe he’s uh 19 years old but he does need to learn kind of the basics when it comes to defending and where to be on the defensive end on the offensive end he has this is kind of why you would be interested in him is that he is a he projects to be a good three-point shooter um his shooting percentages went up and down he took a lot of them which is encouraging um and he can finish plays at the basket as well so he he has higher offensive upside and if he reaches his potential he could be a solid role player slash he even has you know maybe an inkling of star potential if he puts it all together uh the next guy is uh Tyler kak um he people have been saying that you know maybe he has you know a promise or a team really wanting to draft him in the early 20s somebody said the Suns but who knows I’m going to put him here anyway because I think that he would be a great guy to develop off of the bench lots of really positive things especially on the offensive end um he is a small guard he’s 63 with a 6-3 wingspan that’s probably being a bit generous as well he’ll have to show that he is he has NBA level Defense NBA level quick quickness the ability to get his shot off in the NBA he’ll have to prove all of that but he is a very highlevel decision maker he’s great in the pick and roll he can set guys up and he can shoot those would be great for the Raptors to have off of the bench which is why I put him here okay and kind of last but not least there are a couple of other prospects in this this range that I could have talked about but let’s keep the video brief the next guy I’d be interested in drafting at uh 31 a guy who I think will be there at 31 is Ryan Dunn so Ryan Dunn is very intriguing Prospect he has a very sort of odd game he is small forward sized but he is a Defensive Juggernaut he is really fast he’s really athletic he blocks shots like crazy he can stay in front of guys on the perimeter he’s switchable Good Foot speed he’s good in transition he can dunk the ball or if the other team is in transition get back and have a highlight real block out of nowhere his defensive game tape is astonishing it’s crazy um but he kind of he has the skill set he is uh 67 with a 7-1 wingspan so very long um but he has more of the game of a big and by that I I’m using that pejoratively his offensive game is not very polished and he doesn’t seem to have much touch Beyond you know 3T from the basket he needs to add something outside of being in the dunker spot because that’s essentially what he does on offense is that he catches lobs he sneaks behind defenses he runs the break that’s essentially what he does on the offensive side of the ball he shot 20% from three and in terms of getting better usually Scouts look at a free throw percentage to see what a players shooting will be like and whether it will translate into a player being able to shoot threes and that’s not good either 53% from the line is pretty abysmal Mark especially for a guy who’s 6’7 that said the second round is always a Gamble and in Ryan Dunn you would be looking at a guy who has an elite skill like Elite this guy if he had any offensive game whatsoever you’re not going to draft him at 31 so you take this guy just sit him in the training facility with the Noah board which is the Raptor’s shooting Gadget that they have in their training facility and just get him to put up a gazillion shots and maybe somehow you turn him into a three and D player and if that happened you know I mean like guys have learned to shoot it’s happened before that’s kind of what you would be looking to do with him if you wanted to develop him is get him to be able to contribute in some way outside of catching dunks and running in transition and if he did that he would be a very solid pick at 31 and that that about wraps it up those are my final thoughts those are the players that I’m kind of interested in I’m obviously very interested in hearing what you guys have to say the Toronto Raptors fans I always love hearing your opinions on things even if I disagree I I want to get the pulse of Raptor’s Nation so if you have any kind of feedback for this video any of the content that I covered feel free to let me know in the comments here or on Twitter or X at RPS report I want to hear from you who are your picks who are the guys that you think that the Toronto Raptor should avoid are you excited about the prospect of moving up in the draft are there players there that you want to see the Toronto Raptors pick please let me know and as always thanks for tuning in to Raptor report your source for in-depth Raptors content I’m

Let’s look at the 2024 NBA Draft from a Raptors’ perspective!