Hoops Prodigy Andrew Wiggins Says He Wants to Play for the Toronto Raptors

Andrew Wiggins, who will be forced to toil away a year at Kansas before jumping into the NBA, says he wants to play for the Toronto Raptors.

Shortly after being named Gatorade Player of the Year, the Canadian star told reporters that he would like to play for the league's lone team north of the border, via The Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat.

Wiggins, who was born in Toronto, is expected to be the top overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Apparently he wants to play for his hometown team, which would be a change of pace for the Raptors.

Tracy McGrady left the organization via free agency back in 2000. Vince Carter sulked his way through the early portion of the 2005 season, ultimately leading to a trade to the New Jersey Nets. And no one's forgotten Chris Bosh leaving for the Miami Heat back in 2010.

Now there's suddenly a sure-fire superstar in waiting willing to play for the Raptors, but they have almost no chance of picking him up.

Toronto is in a position to be a fringe playoff contender this season; Rudy Gay, Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross being a solid enough core to put them somewhere in the range of sixth and 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Not only that, but picks that are projected as high in the lottery have become nearly impossible to trade for without completely mortgaging a team's future.

So unless the Raptors take on enough money in bad contracts to pay more in luxury taxes than the Brooklyn Nets—or completely tear apart their team and tank for the chance at landing that top pick—Wiggins won't be wearing that red Raptors jersey anytime soon.

Of course, there's always theoretically a chance that every other general manager ahead of Toronto in the draft loses their mind, allowing Wiggins to fall all the way to 12 or 13 to the Raptors.

That, or they could just ask him to force a trade from whomever drafts him. He could start out his career as the Canadian Kobe Bryant.