Raptors weigh trade pitches for No. 9 pick in NBA draft

Hamilton Spectator

13 hours ago

Part misdirection, part fibbing, some truths only partially told. Welcome to the final days leading up to the NBA draft, and the annual rites of misinformation.
How it ultimately ends up after the
first round of the NBA draft
unfolds Wednesday night is impossible to tell, which is why
the Raptors,
as always, are leaving all avenues open.
Trade? That's a possibility.
Choose for need or best player available? Well, you can talk yourself and fans into thinking the best player available happens to fill a need.
Like the group that's expected to be available
when they choose at No. 9,
if indeed they choose at No. 9? Of course. It's not like anyone would say: 'This group at our slot is full of suspects and no-hopers and we don't like any of them.'
So, take everything said with a grain of salt; it's how everyone approaches the final 48 or so hours before the picks start flying.
True to history and script, Dan Tolzman, Toronto's assistant general manager and vice-president of player personnel, espoused a few theories in his annual chat with the media on Monday, all of which are sure to whet the appetite of fans.
He admitted it's not likely Toronto will move higher than No. 9, but there's more than the usual amount of interest from
teams below them wanting to move up.
And if the Raptors think they can get the guy they want (or a close facsimile) a few pegs down, it'll be trade time.
'I think there's a lot of people that have the same feeling as we do, that the top 10, the (top of the) lottery … is a pretty good place to be,' Tolzman said in his session.
'There's definitely interest in people trying to get our pick, I think for the same reason. I wouldn't say (there's a specific) percentage chance that we do one or the other, but there (are) definitely conversations being had with teams trying to get into the top 10, for the same reason why we like being here right now.'
Aside from
Scottie Barnes (fourth, 2021)
and
Jakob Poeltl (ninth, 2016),
this is the highest the Raptors have been scheduled to pick since they took Terrence Ross eighth in 2012.
The various mock drafts floating around, for what they're worth, have the Raptors linked to a variety of big men to addressing the biggest roster need: a backup centre.
But Tolzman didn't sound at all enthusiastic about the chance of getting a young big man who might be able to help right away, even a bit.
'Actual rotation minutes (for centres) is probably easier to fill in free agency or trade or different scenarios than to actually bank on a draft pick coming in and doing that,' he said. 'If they can do that … that's a perfect scenario. But to make that decision in late June and then hope by October that you're actually getting that production, it's just too hard to plan with that in mind.'
The names that are being bandied about, and have been linked to the Raptors for weeks, are
Duke centre Khaman Maluach,
Maryland centre Derik Queen,
French forward Noa Essengue
from the German league and
South Carolina defensive stalwart Collin Murray-Boyles.
Much will depend on what happens in the top eight selections.
And just because the Raptors haven't have a private session with anyone won't preclude them from being drafted. They didn't have a one-on-one with
first-rounder Ja'Kobe Walter
a year ago; didn't even meet with him at the Chicago pre-draft combine.
It's not like the Raptors would be picking blind.
'It's always the song and dance you do with agents. They're going to tell you their guy's for sure going ahead of us … so they only work out for a certain number of teams,' Tolzman said. 'And then there's another whole group of players who say that we would never consider their guy at nine or wherever, so they don't send them to us because they have to prioritize teams in the range that they think their guy's going to go.
'It is what it is, but … we scout these guys so much during the season that … a workout doesn't really sway you that much.'