What Can The Toronto Raptors Do At This Year’s NBA Draft?

The Toronto Raptors are at a crossroads in building a competitive team. Ahead of tonight's draft, we look at their options.

By Christopher Bird

Photo by H.Y. Photography from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

But the draft isn’t exciting only because of new players; it’s exciting because traditionally a great number of trades happens during the course of the draft. In 2013, for example, Boston and Brooklyn engineered a massive swap that sent most of Boston’s aging 2008 championship core to Brooklyn in exchange for a wealth of cast-off salaries and future draft picks (Boston is now better off for it). Last year, Dallas and New York engineered a massive trade on draft night, exchanging eight players overall. And every year, there are numerous smaller trades as teams move up or down in the draft to get the player they want now or better assets for later.

Although forecasting the general ability of an entire draft class is nearly impossible, it is fair to say that the 2015 draft looks to be a promising one with many players who should have decent NBA careers. So what are the Toronto Raptors—after a season in which they recorded a franchise-high 49 wins but got swept in four games in the first round of the playoffs—going to do in this year’s NBA draft?

The Raptors have only one draft pick this year, selecting 20th overall in the first round. (Their second-round draft pick this year was traded to Atlanta last summer in the trade that brought Lou Williams and Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira to Toronto.) There are a lot of options as to what they can do with it tonight.

The simplest strategy for the Raps in this draft is just to use the #20 pick to find a good player who can contribute now. With a pick as relatively low as #20, the Raps will be relying on superior draft knowledge to find a quality player, but there are options.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a forward who played for the University of Arizona in college, is one player whom many predict will be available at #20 and a good choice for the Raptors. “RHJ” is a long, rangy, and athletic player, and very smart on the floor; he’s widely considered to have elite or near-elite level skill at every aspect of basketball that doesn’t involve putting the ball through the hoop. (Unfortunately, scoring is kind of important in basketball, which is why Hollis-Jefferson may well be available at 20.) However, in workouts he’s been showing that his jump shot has improved (albeit not dramatically so far); if he were to find a reliable scoring touch he would be an excellent steal at 20.

A couple major draft predictors have recently suggested that the University of Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker, considered a high-level talent, could possibly fall to the Raptors. Dekker would represent a major steal at 20; he’s the sort of player who basically does everything well (albeit nothing at an elite level) and could assist the Raptors right away.

Virginia’s Justin Anderson could serve Toronto as a “three-and-D” wing player—Anderson’s weaknesses are his lack of dribbling skill and a general lack of court vision, but these are two things that good coaching can (sometimes) overcome. He’s also a long-armed quality defender, so the Raptors may consider him an upgrade over Terrence Ross.

Finally, there is the possibility of drafting Trey Lyles. We mention Lyles because he is Canadian, at least by his passport (he mostly grew up in New Jersey and Indiana). But with the Raptors needing a new skilled power forward, it seems likely that Lyles can take on that role—although there are concerns about his ability to really bang in the post.

There are some Raps fans who think that general manager Masai Ujiri may have decided what they already believe: this team, as constructed, hit its high point this year and tinkering around the edges will not turn it into a true contender. If Masai believes that, he may well decide to use one or more of his players to try to trade up for a higher draft pick to snag the likes of one of the second-tier of star players in this draft: Justise Winslow, Mario Hezonja or Willie Cauley-Stein all seem like possible targets for the Raptors. (The almost-certain #1 pick and only widely-agreed-to-be-a-future-superstar-in-this-draft Karl-Anthony Towns, will likely be too expensive for the Raps to garner.)

Potential trade targets could include the New York Knicks (drafting fourth and needing stars to play alongside Carmelo Anthony), the Detroit Pistons (drafting eighth and wanting to compete as soon as possible, rather than continue a slow rebuild), and the Sacramento Kings (more on them in a bit).

Of course, there is always the second option with the Raptors’ draft pick, which is that they could opt to sell rather than buy. Some fans believe that the current core can compete and that all that is needed are roster tweaks and upgrades at one or two positions (power forward being the biggest).

There are quality power forwards available for trade. Chicago, in particular, has a glut of skilled power forwards and has quietly made it known that Taj Gibson may be available. Gibson, a tough defender and rebounder, is exactly the sort of player defensive-minded Raptors head coach Dwane Casey would love to have at his disposal.

Toronto also needs more perimeter shooting. Of course, following the Golden State Warriors’ win in the Finals (which was in large part due to excellent perimeter shooting), every teams wants more perimeter shooting at every position. But if Toronto advertises the pick in exchange for a shooter, they may find takers. Sacramento’s Nik Stauskas (a Mississauga native) is rumoured to be available; a draft pick might be all that is needed to acquire him.

Every year, there are teams that are simply not interested in drafting given their current salary structure and/or the relative lowness of their picks, and who will trade their picks away for relatively small consideration, down to and including simple cash. Indeed, Toronto sold the #59 pick to Brooklyn last year for cash.

To be certain, the majority of second-round picks do not become long-term NBA players; that pick Toronto sold to Brooklyn became Xavier Thames, who is likely never going to become an NBA player. But some do—and some second-round picks can excel and become stars. The most famous of these is probably San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili (drafted 57th in 1999), but this year alone, both Golden State’s Draymond Green (drafted 35th in 2012) and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks (drafted 39th the same year) will likely collect star-level max contracts.

Getting these picks is often only a matter of money. Luckily, the Raptors are cash-rich and traditionally willing to spend, and Masai himself has said he’s considering buying more picks – possibly to snag less valued players who still have promise, such as Dakari Johnson, Richuan Holmes or Cliff Alexander, all of whom have recently participated in pre-draft workouts for Toronto.

There is one final possibility, which we mention only because it is simply too fun not to mention, even if it is extremely unlikely.

Over the last week, reports have sprung up all over that the Sacramento Kings’ star center DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins is feuding with his coach, the veteran George Karl. Nobody really knows if this is because Karl has decided that Boogie is toxic, or because Karl alienated Boogie (and George Karl has made enemies with a lot of players over the years), or if Boogie is just sick of Sacramento, which has a front office that could politely be described as unstable.

Whatever the cause, it appears that Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers are both hotly pursuing Boogie—which they should, because Boogie is, whatever his flaws, a top-ten basketball player in this league, a dominant center who can take over a game all by himself like very few players can. Boogie has a reputation for being, ahem, a bit of a headcase (with the exception of his rookie season, he has never had a season where he was less than second overall in the league for receiving technical fouls), but even so, he is a superstar player and there are very few of those.

Sacramento is weak at point guard and if they trade Boogie will need a starting center. Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas plus perhaps some other assets (draft picks, Terrence Ross) might make a package that would entice Sacramento. Of course, this is only a good idea if Boogie likes the idea of playing in Toronto—but he can always call up his former teammates and current Raptors Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez for their opinions.