Crop of recent NBA players headline Raptors free agent camp

NBA analyst Michael Grange discusses the news that Jeff Weltman has left Toronto to join Orlando's front office, and speculates a couple of internal names that could fill the vacant Raptors GM role.

One of the things that really stood out during the draft workout process was the amount of players invited to the Toronto Raptors training facility who are projected as late second-rounders
— at best — and more likely will be undrafted free-agents.

Masai Ujiri is hardly adverse to going off the board when making his pick on draft night, but given that the Raps don’t currently own a second-round pick it’s safe to surmise that the Raps’ brass was aiming to get a first-hand look at a group of players they could add to their Summer League roster in Las Vegas this summer, or invite to training camp in the fall.

Now the team is looking outside the prospect pool to find a potential diamond in the rough.

[relatedlinks]

After a string of pre-draft workouts, the Raptors will hold a free-agent camp on Thursday and Friday featuring an intriguing crop of recent NBA players, NCAA stars and Canadian standouts.

Of the 23 players who will attend the camp, five were drafted by NBA teams including two former first-round picks.

R.J. Hunter, a Georgia State alumn who may best remembered for his NCAA Tournament heroics, was selected 28th overall by the Boston Celtics in 2015. The other first-rounder is John Jenkins, a deadeye shooter drafted 23rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2012.

Small forwards Tyler Honeycutt (Kings/UCLA), Damian Inglis (Bucks/France), and Cleanthony Early (Knicks/Wichita State) were all selected in the second round.

Early may be the most notable of the group. The six-foot-eight forward was the star of the 2013-14 Wichita State team that went 35-1 (and also featured current Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet). He enjoyed a solid rookie season with the Knicks, but two months into his second season, on Dec. 30, 2015, Early was shot in the right knee during a robbery outside a club in New York. He returned to the lineup by late March, but was waived prior to the start of last season.

Other notable names at the free-agent camp include Canadians Murphy Burnatowski, a six-foot-seven forward with experience on the national team, and former NCAA standout Dyshawn Pierre from Whitby, Ont., who led Dayton to the Elite Eight in 2014.

Here is the complete list of players who will be at the BioSteel Centre over the next two days:

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.