There is one number and one letter the Toronto Raptors need to be focusing on when they turn in their pick during this June’s draft: “three” and “D.”
The assumption is Toronto will look for depth at the power forward spot as insurance for Patrick Patterson’s potential departure or a point guard in the wake of Kyle Lowry’s free agency. The Raptors’ exit in the NBA Playoffs and the way the game has been played after their departure make it obvious that shooting the three and defending with versatility are the biggest priorities for Toronto. They need players who do not hamstring Dwane Casey in either direction and are adept at doing both.
The three-and-defence player is valuable because it helps the execution of the NBA’s most over-utilized play, the pick and roll. Three-and-D wings allow you to effectively fight through, switch or hedge and recover in the pick and roll on defence. They also allow you the weak side spacing on offence to make all of the above difficult.
Dissect the rosters of the four conference finalists and you see they all had them in abundance.
The Cleveland Cavaliers relied on Richard Jefferson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and the over-qualified-for-this-conversation LeBron James as wing players who play both aggressive defence and willingly shoot three-pointers.
Andre Igoudala, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Matt Barnes and Patrick McCaw are the Warriors that provide Steve Kerr with perimeter flexibility.
The Boston Celtics used Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, Jonas Jerebko and Gerald Green in that type of role.
Despite their value, this is not a player prototype you need a top pick to acquire. Yes, the Celtics got Brown at No. 3 overall but Malcolm Brogdon was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks at 36. In McCaw’s case, he fell to the Warriors with 38 players being chosen before him.
Bruce Bowen was one of the pioneers of this role and was undrafted.
Jonathon Simmons, Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard are continuing the long-lived “3D” tradition with the San Antonio Spurs.
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It is a skill that can be developed. Simmons learned to do it in the Developmental League. Green was almost out of the NBA twice before the Spurs gave him a shot.
The Toronto Raptors have Norman Powell and P.J. Tucker (assuming he returns to Toronto) who qualify in this regard. DeMarre Carroll’s role is to hit three-pointers and play defence, but with a .341 three-point percentage and a 108 defensive rating this past season, it shows he didn’t do it consistently.
The best option to fill this role when the Raptors are picking at No. 23 is Justin Jackson from UNC. Jackson is six-foot-eight with a six-foot-11 wing span and took the challenge of guarding the ACC’s best players last season. More importantly, he averaged 22.9 points per 40 minutes on a 56 per cent true shooting percentage while shooting seven threes a game and making 36.8 per cent of them.
Jackson pulled his name out of the 2016 Draft after going to the combine with the expressed purpose of making more threes. In his return, he was the best player on a championship team. His finishing school at “three-and-D” university may not have changed his draft position all that much in a deeper 2017 class but it definitely will help his transition to the league.
Other similar players the Raptors should take a long look at are Sindarius Thornwell of South Carolina, Josh Hart of Villanova, Devin Robinson of Florida, Wesley Iwundu of Kansas State and Luke Kennard of Duke.
The Raptors can find a player like this in either round. Late-round options could be Sterling Brown from SMU, Peter Jok from Iowa, Reggie Upshaw from Middle Tennessee, Davon Reed from Miami and Jalen Moore from Utah State.
Terrance Ferguson, a high school graduate who played for the Adelaide 36ers last year instead of going to the NCAA is also a sleeper to watch. He athleticism gives him huge upside and he is represented by Rich Paul — a business partner of LeBron James.
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Since the chief task for the Raptors over the next few years is to guard the likes of James, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need some forward-sized players with guard-like skills to help slow them down.
The “culture reset” that hangs over this off-season needs to include adding more players who are spot up, catch and shoot threats on offence and can guard multiple positions on defence.
In the Finals, we’ve seen large stretches of crunch-time minutes where James and Durant are the tallest players on the floor. Want to catch up to the big super teams in the NBA? You better be comfortable going small with players that possess a high size-to-skill ratio. Welcome to the 3-and-D party in the NBA. The Raptors have a chance to join it in this year’s draft.