The Raptors won the 1996 draft lottery, but due to the expansion agreement, had to surrender the #1 overall pick to Philadelphia, who selected Allen Iverson. Toronto selected Marcus Camby at #2
Windhorst mentioned this on his podcast this morning and I had never heard anything about it
Looking back at that draft….You could say that if the Raptors traded back they MAY have found some success ;). Whenever I hear about the ’96 draft I think of A.I…but I also think of
– STARBURY
– KOBE
– STEVE NASH
– PEJA
– J O’Neal, who was tearing it up for Indy until the infamous brawl
More importantly though it’s easy to see “damn, they could have had A.I!!!” but they also didn’t have a true “big” from doing quick research….so Camby could have been that great player for them.
More importantly, as we know, sometimes the player is made by coaching & their surroundings. We may not have gotten the legendary player that we all saw (and loved) in Toronto.
dfykl
I remember reading the expansion team agreement vaguely mentioned here was not to let stars go to expansion team so early because it’s not fair to the rest of the league. The Magic got Shaq and Penny and that soured some folks.
jdolan98
Will this happen again? Or do they make up the expansion rules each time, nothing really seemed set in stone from the brief amount of looking into it I did
No_Yogurtcloset8529
and the league hasn’t stopped screwing over the raptors since
WhatShouldTheHeartDo
When your team misses out on your all time favorite player🥲
Yabutsk
It’s not that those 3 didn’t like TO, 2 of them re-signed.
Bosh wanted to team up w Super friends,
TMac wanted his own team to get out from VCs shadow and
VC left bc Babcock was fucking up, communication broke down, along w a variety of other minor convenience and lifestyle conflicts management created.
pakattack91
It’s OK we got Bargnani, so it all evens out in the end
SuperVaderMinion
The same thing happened when The Grizzlies had the worst record in the league but were not eligible for the #1 pick because they were an expansion team.
That was the Tim Duncan draft.
bball_nostradamus
They just didn’t like giving canada any advantages.
Bonesawisready5
Yeah it was bullshit. Maybe they don’t get Carter too but can you imagine oooof
krg779
To be fair, if you have to give up the #1 pick for the #2, this was the year to do it.
EvergreenHulk
Would they have taken Iverson? Damon Stoudamire had just won Rookie of the Year. I know it sounds crazy to say once their careers are over, but Iverson would not have been a lock at that pick if it was Toronto.
Alternative-Cry3369
Vancouver still should have selected local boy Steve Nash
GotMoFans
And of course, there was no one else in that draft worthy of the Hall of Fame.
/s
spssky
TBF Marcus Camby was a very well regarded prospect who single handedly dragged UMass to the final four
16 Comments
What a different league it would have been
Looking back at that draft….You could say that if the Raptors traded back they MAY have found some success ;). Whenever I hear about the ’96 draft I think of A.I…but I also think of
– STARBURY
– KOBE
– STEVE NASH
– PEJA
– J O’Neal, who was tearing it up for Indy until the infamous brawl
More importantly though it’s easy to see “damn, they could have had A.I!!!” but they also didn’t have a true “big” from doing quick research….so Camby could have been that great player for them.
More importantly, as we know, sometimes the player is made by coaching & their surroundings. We may not have gotten the legendary player that we all saw (and loved) in Toronto.
I remember reading the expansion team agreement vaguely mentioned here was not to let stars go to expansion team so early because it’s not fair to the rest of the league. The Magic got Shaq and Penny and that soured some folks.
Will this happen again? Or do they make up the expansion rules each time, nothing really seemed set in stone from the brief amount of looking into it I did
and the league hasn’t stopped screwing over the raptors since
When your team misses out on your all time favorite player🥲
It’s not that those 3 didn’t like TO, 2 of them re-signed.
Bosh wanted to team up w Super friends,
TMac wanted his own team to get out from VCs shadow and
VC left bc Babcock was fucking up, communication broke down, along w a variety of other minor convenience and lifestyle conflicts management created.
It’s OK we got Bargnani, so it all evens out in the end
The same thing happened when The Grizzlies had the worst record in the league but were not eligible for the #1 pick because they were an expansion team.
That was the Tim Duncan draft.
They just didn’t like giving canada any advantages.
Yeah it was bullshit. Maybe they don’t get Carter too but can you imagine oooof
To be fair, if you have to give up the #1 pick for the #2, this was the year to do it.
Would they have taken Iverson? Damon Stoudamire had just won Rookie of the Year. I know it sounds crazy to say once their careers are over, but Iverson would not have been a lock at that pick if it was Toronto.
Vancouver still should have selected local boy Steve Nash
And of course, there was no one else in that draft worthy of the Hall of Fame.
/s
TBF Marcus Camby was a very well regarded prospect who single handedly dragged UMass to the final four