Toronto Raptors president and general manager Masai Ujiri stated on Monday that with two first-round picks (nos. 9 and 27) and plenty of options on the table, the organization’s focus will now shift to the NBA Draft. On Wednesday, the Raptors hosted their first official pre-draft workout at the BioSteel Centre near downtown Toronto.
The team put six players — two guards and four forwards — through a series of workouts in front of coaches, trainers and front-office staffers. Here is the list of who was in attendance:
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
One name that stands out for obvious reasons is Gary Payton Jr. Yes, his dad was a hall of fame point guard, most famously for the iconic Seattle Supersonics teams of the ’90s. But the similarities between the two end after name and position. Junior is nowhere near the game manager that his father was (in fairness there are maybe five players who played point guard in the NBA better), but he is a far more explosive athlete. Can’t really imagine the original Payton ever doing anything quite like this:
He does, however, share his dad’s ball-hawk instincts. Payton Jr., finished with 2.5 steals per game at Oregon State last season (tied with top-ranked point guard Kris Dunn for fourth in the NCAA)— but his 6-foot-2, 184-pound frame suggests he could struggle playing the point at the next level, especially given he shot just 30 per cent from deep in college. Payton was a rock solid, well-rounded collegiate player (averages of 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists in ’15-16) with an elite bloodline, but projects to be a second-rounder.
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CAN CON
Two Canadians were part of today’s workouts — Kyle Wiltjer, a dual-citizen who grew up in Portland, and Stefan Jankovic, who was born in Serbia but grew up in Mississauga.
Wiltjer is probably more well-known among the average hoops fan — he was a bona fide NCAA star in his last two seasons at Gonzaga, averaging a team-high 20.4 points for the Bulldogs this past season. A four-year collegiate player, Wiltjer spent his first two seasons with the Kentucky Wildcats, where he won a title as a freshman in 2012, and followed it up with the SEC’s sixth man award as a sophomore before transferring in order to get more playing time.
Wiltjer is a skilled scorer and, at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds with seriously deep range. He’s a prototypical face-up power forward who’s offensive game should translate well to the NBA, however, there are significant questions regarding his ability on the defensive end of the floor, which has affected his projected draft stock.
I spoke to Wiltjer after he transferred to Gonzaga and talked about his unique game, playing with Anthony Davis, and suiting up for Canada. You can check it out here.
The 6-foot-11 Jankovic flew comparatively under the radar but boasts a nice resume, too. He starred at St. Francis Xavier Secondary School in Ontario before transferring to West Virginia’s Huntington Prep, where he played alongside fellow Canadians Andrew Wiggins and Xavier Rathan-Mayes. In his final season at Hawaii last year, Jankovic was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Year.
AND THE SIGN SAID…
While there were some intriguing talent on hand at the BioSteel Centre Wednesday, all of the prospects currently project to be mid-late second-round picks (or, depending on who you talk to, undrafted altogether).
So why is that significant? The Raptors currently do not own a second-round pick. Couple that with Ujiri’s openness in stating he’s not interested in adding more developmental projects to his NBA roster (and it can be hard to justify sending a top-10 pick to the D-League for his entire rookie season) and I think it’s safe to go ahead and read between the lines, where it says that Ujiri and the Raps are looking to trade down in the draft. Hey, the front office and scouting department seem to have hit a home run with Norman Powell, last year’s second round pick, and could be looking to replicate that formula.
The team will hold more workouts on Thursday, check back then.
