Draft night win-win for Raptors
Anunoby nice fit, Bulls ship Butler out of conference
The best thing that happened for the Raptors in the NBA draft might have been that the Chicago Bulls took a step back.
On a night that was far more fizzle than flash, the Raptors stuck with the 23rd pick — selecting Indiana’s Ogugua (OG) Anunoby, a London-born, United Statesraised son of a Nigerian father — what went on around them was of more significance.
Given that the Bulls routinely beat the Raptors and have for years, Chicago’s decision to start a rebuilding process by moving Jimmy Butler and the No. 16 to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Khris Dunn and the No. 7 pick weakened one of Toronto’s Eastern Conference rivals and that can’t be a bad thing for the Raptors.
Toronto’s own pick, a 19-year-old coming off knee surgery in January that will likely keep Anunoby on the sidelines until at least training camp, is a look to the longer term future.
The six-foot-eight Anunoby, who has a seven-foot-two wingspan, is considered a far more polished defensive player today, able to guard multiple positions through his season and a half with the Hoosiers.
Anunoby comes with some high praise, even if he is still very much in the developmental stage.
“Anunoby is an elite athlete with an NBA body, plus a seven-foot-two wingspan,” ESPN draft guru Chad Ford said in the lead-up to the draft. “He plays hard on both ends of the floor and can defend four positions. He’s a good shooter with range, has a good feel for the game and works hard. He’s the prototypical 3-and-D prospect.”
He averaged 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16 games with the Hoosiers before being injured in January. He shot 31 per cent from the college three-point line, and only 56.3 per cent from the free-throw line.
As is the case most seasons, the hours leading up the draft were filled with reports of this team talking to that team, this player moving to that team, all surrounding some of the top draft slots.
The Philadelphia 76ers were the only certainty in the days before the draft. They had targeted Washington guard Markelle Fultz since trading up from No. 3 on the weekend.
The top of the draft played out with little drama or surprise. The Los Angeles Lakers took UCLA guard Lonzo Ball second, Boston chose Duke forward Jayson Tatum third, Phoenix went with Kansas forward Josh Jackson at No. 4 and Sacramento took Kentucky guard De’Aaron Fox with the fifth selection.
The Orlando Magic took Florida State forward Jonathan Isaac at No. 6 and after Minnesota took Lauri Markkanen for Chicago, the New York Knicks grabbed French forward Frank Ntilikina.
According to league sources, Raptors president Masai Ujiri was trying to move the 23rd pick in a package with Jonas Valanciunas as part of a reshaping of the franchise and with financial considerations in mind, but nothing more than a few whispers emerged. Tying the rest of DeMarre Carroll’s contract — about $32 million — to any trade was also on Ujiri’s wish list, according to league sources.
But the hard work for the Raptors barely began with Thursday’s draft.
Facing a summer with more significant free agents to deal with than at any time in franchise history, Ujiri has to be mindful of who he wants to bring back and at what cost, while remaining among the top tier of Eastern Conference teams.
Franchises were informed this week that the salary cap would dip from an expected $101 million (all figures U.S.) to $99 million next season, while the luxury-tax threshold would fall from about $121 million to $119 million.
And if the Raptors are planning to bring back both Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka at big-ticket salaries, and with P.J. Tucker likely to command close to an eight-figure payday next year, saving money anywhere to lessen a tax bill would be in Ujiri’s best interests. The GM can revisit trade talks once the July 1 free-agency negotiation period begins and teams take stock of what transpired in the draft as a whole.
Right now, the balance of power in the East hasn’t changed significantly from earlier in the week, and Butler moving from Chicago to the West instead of to Cleveland, as was rumoured, and Paul George not yet dealt away from Indiana makes things better in Toronto, at least momentarily.