Raptors in good spot to make waves at NBA draft in two weeks

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The NBA draft is now under two weeks away, which means teams, having made their lists of prospects that intrigue, are checking them (more than) twice, while final workouts are scheduled and held.

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Toronto has the 19th and 31st picks of the 2024 draft and is slated to lead off Day 2 on June 27. This is the first time the NBA has made the draft a multiple-day affair.

Raptors assistant general manager/vice president of player personnel Dan Tolzman recently told us after the team worked out Toronto-born, two-time NCAA player of the year Zach Edey that he likes the spot the team is in.

That includes controlling Day 2. There have been rumours that teams already are making offers for the 31st pick, but Tolzman said “I wouldn’t say we’re expecting (teams to get aggressive after Round 1 concludes if they’ve fallen in love with a player), but I think it’s definitely a kind of cool added wrinkle that we’re looking forward to seeing what it brings,” he said.

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“It’s going to be interesting to see how the first round plays out,” he added. “And, as always, there’s guys that slide into the second round that maybe teams hadn’t expected to and so what (does) that overnight frenzy looks like? It’ll be interesting to see, but also we feel like we could be in a good spot to where hopefully someone drops that we like ourselves.

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“And so it’s not so much about what to do with that pick as much as we’re just in a good position, hopefully get a really good player.”

There also have been rumours of the front office attempting to trade up and, while that’s a possibility, Toronto has long kept a close eye on the top prospects in this class because there was a good chance they’d also have a pick in the top six (instead it was conveyed to San Antonio when Toronto fell to No. 7 in the lottery), it seems like an odd approach in a draft most have described as very flat — meaning there isn’t much difference between mid-to-late lottery prospects and those expected to go later in the first round.

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But one of the best players in the class, Serbian guard Nikola Topic, recently suffered a partially torn ACL and could drop to a spot Toronto could trade into. Surely Rajakovic has the book on Topic and they won’t care about his injury since they aren’t on a win-now timeline.

Drafting OG Anunoby despite a major knee injury worked well for the Raptors years ago. This could be an interesting play, too, if they opt to go that route.

Tolzman said Toronto has been able to get an up-close look at many players. Many think No. 19 is their floor, so they want to make sure the Raptors know what they bring.

“It’s been an interesting blend (in for workouts),” Tolzman said after being asked by Postmedia how difficult it has been arranging workouts this year. “We’re getting a lot of players in, for sure, because it’s kind of a sweet spot of players that are trying to prove that they can be a top-20 pick, but also teams looking for back stops at No. 31.

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“There is good mix of players but, as always, there’s a lot of players that feel they’re pretty confident that they won’t get to 19, so it’s always a conversation that we have (with getting in the highest-ranked prospects).”

Tolzman said Toronto has seen “a lot of interesting (players).” The Raptors keep these workouts close to the vest, but Hoopshype has reported that, aside from Edey, fellow big man Kel’el Ware has worked out for the club, as has Cal’s Jaylon Tyson, who will be in demand if he drops to 31.

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Tolzman admitted this year has been a little different than others in that there hasn’t been as much separation as usual. Normally players can be broken into tiers by this point.

“It does seem like most players have a really wide range. Usually by this time we have a better idea of at least a smaller group of players we”ll likely be looking at 19, for instance. This year, I would say we have an idea but at the same time it could go completely differently if a few players that we think didn’t expect to go in front of 19 end up going and it pushes down a handful of guys,” he said.

“We’ll be ready for everybody just in case but at the same time, usually you know for sure who’s going to be off the board at that time.”

@WolstatSun

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