Welcome to Roster RX, where we offer a prescription to cure what ails Toronto’s professional basketball team. Today we’re looking at the team’s draft targets.
With six players set to hit free agency and a roster that was mercilessly exposed on the defensive end by the Washington Wizards in a four-game beat-down of a playoff series, the Toronto Raptors, armed with just one pick at No. 20, won’t be solving all their problems during Thursday’s NBA Draft.
With that said, because of all the holes they’ll have to fill, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is going to have to hit on this pick and bring in a guy who will make an immediate impact. Taking a quick peek at some of the outgoing players, it’s apparent that the team will need to narrow in on wings, extra ball-handlers and big men. Also, because of Ujiri’s commitment to the defensive-minded Dwane Casey, said pick will probably have to at least be capable of guarding his own position.
Therefore, with these criteria in mind, here are some names near where the Raptors are selecting that are probably in play right now.
Point Guard
Jerian Grant, Senior – Notre Dame
Jerian Grant is a big six-foot-five point guard who knows how to run the pick-and-roll and has good instincts on the defensive end despite not being blessed with great lateral quickness.
The Raptors have a similar player in Greivis Vasquez, but his contract will expire after next season, which means Grant could step in immediately as the club’s third point guard and then take Vasquez’s primary backup role to Kyle Lowry the season after.
Terry Rozier, Sophomore – Louisville
An incredible athlete, what Terry Rozier loses in pure basketball ability, he more than makes up for with his incredible physical gifts. Rozier is a lightning-quick guard capable of getting anywhere he wants to on the floor. His athleticism best translates to the defensive side of the floor as he’s very long for his size (he’s six-foot-two with a six-foot-eight wingspan), is strong and has remarkable lateral quickness, making him an ideal fit for a Casey-run team.
Delon Wright, Senior – Utah
A relentless pit-bull defender, Delon Wright would be a great fit for Casey and the Raptors. Similar to Rozier in that his physical attributes stand out more, Wright is the kind of big, tough guard coaches love. His biggest knock is that he doesn’t really have a position and will be more of a combo guard than a pure one, but as a defensive specialist he should be able to forge a long and prosperous NBA career.
Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Justin Anderson, Junior – Virginia
Simply put, Justin Anderson is the kind of three-and-D role player every team in the league wants to have. Anderson is a very solidly built six-foot-five who increased his three-point percentage from 29.4 in his sophomore season to 45.2 this season. With Terrence Ross never seeming to be able to take that next step, Anderson could fill a glaring hole for the Raptors.
Anthony Brown, Senior – Stanford
Another three-and-D specialist, Anthony Brown offers a little more polish than Anderson, but less in the way of potential because he’s not as athletic. Regardless, Brown is an excellent shooter from deep (shooting 40.3 percent from deep during his four years at Stanford) and thanks to his long six-foot-seven frame, good instincts and compete level, he has also proved his worth as a potential lockdown perimeter defender.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sophomore – Arizona
While more of a combo forward than a pure wing, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is the all-energy, pure athletic lockdown defender that a defensive coach like Casey would highly covet. He’s long, strong, has a great first and second jump, has remarkable lateral quickness and has natural instincts on the defensive end.
The only knock against him is that his offence isn’t highly developed and will take a ton of work to get up to par. Still, he’s an elite defender prospect, and the Raptors’ biggest problem last season was on the defensive end.
R.J. Hunter, Junior – Georgia State
The best player on the NCAA Tournament darling Georgia State Panthers, R.J. Hunter is also a pretty good NBA prospect. An outstanding shooter and playmaker, could Hunter be a pseudo-replacement for Lou Williams should the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year leave Toronto?
While that’s definitely a stretch, Hunter has aspects of his game similar to Williams in that he can lick it from deep and run pick-and-roll as a secondary ball-handler. Unfortunately, just like Williams, Hunter’s defence is questionable, making him not a perfect fit for Casey. Still, as the Golden State Warriors proved, a team can never have enough shooting, and Hunter can do just that.
Rashad Vaughn, Freshman – UNLV
While still pretty raw, Rashad Vaughn has the potential to become a good NBA player because of his size and natural scoring instincts. At the moment he’s still very inefficient with his shot selection, but that should improve as he matures. Because he’s more a bundle of potential than anything else, Vaughn doesn’t seem like a good fit for the Raptors but the team brought him in for a workout anyway so you can’t really rule him out.
Power Forward/Centre
Kevon Looney, Freshman – UCLA
With the NBA shifting to a more skill-based, shooting-heavy brand of basketball, the stretch-four is now more important than ever. The Raptors already have a pretty good one in Patrick Patterson, but a team could always use another, particularly one who finished tied for 30th in the NCAA in rebounding as a freshman and, until going to college actually played point guard at six-foot-nine.
Looney isn’t expected to be there at No. 20, but if he is then he’s the kind of potential star Ujiri would be remiss to pass on. He can block shots, he’s a monster on both backboards, he has an ever-improving jump shot and he’s a good passer, all at the tender age of 19.
Montrezl Harrell, Junior – Louisville
At one point in his GM career, Ujiri took an undersized power forward prospect with explosive athleticism and a relentless motor name Kenneth Faried late in the first round of the NBA Draft. He could very well do the same with Montrezl Harrell.
One of the issues the Raptors had last season was a lack of energy and drive. With Harrell that will never be in question, particularly on the defensive end. As far as big men go, there are certainly more intriguing prospects, but Harrell is probably the safest to go with as he’s more of a proven commodity.
Chris McCullough, Freshman – Syracuse
Another stretch-four freshman prospect, Chris McCullough has all the physical tools to excel but lacks a lot of the instinct that a player like Looney shows. That coupled with the fact he tore his ACL in January makes him a much riskier proposition.
With that said, stretch-fours will soon become the norm at the power forward position in the NBA and drafting a freshman one now, no matter what concerns are raised about him, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It just wouldn’t really fit with what the Raptors need now.
Christian Wood, Sophomore – UNLV
And on the topic of projects, there’s none bigger on this list than Christian Wood. Actually seen on most mock drafts as a second-round pick, Wood has lottery-like potential and as such, the Raptors brought him in for a workout.
Wood has stretch-five potential, standing at six-foot-11 with an improving jump shot and with range stretching out to three. He’s very athletic, can rebound in traffic and is a fierce shot blocker. Unfortunately, he needs to add a ton of strength, consistently makes terrible decisions on both ends of the floor and lacks the drive needed to succeed at the next level.
Wood is not what the Raptors need—at all. Then again, Ujiri did roll the dice on a project in Bruno Caboclo last year, so there’a proof that he likes taking on interesting boom-or-bust projects. Here’s hoping he doesn’t opt to do that again though.
The 2015 NBA Draft goes down on Thursday, June 25
