NBA Draft: Will Toronto Acquire Another Draft Pick?

The Toronto Raptors should have their big board narrowed down to a few prospects by now, but the Raptors could do themselves a favor and obtain a second first-round draft pick in this year's draft.

Toronto is pretty much guaranteed an impact player with the No. 5 pick, and if the price is right, obtaining a second first-rounder would be a wise move for Toronto. The Raptors have multiple needs at this time, and the fifth pick alone will only satisfy one of them.

Toronto is in position to sign free agents and make different trades to help improve the roster, but there is a degree of uncertainty regarding whom we can land and what we will need to give up to improve the team.

By obtaining a second draft pick, the Raptors could possibly come away with a steal on draft night, speeding up the rebuilding process.

Why the draft?

Despite the majority of Raptor fans overwhelmingly wishing for a top-three rookie point guard, in reality the Raptors have bigger holes in the center and small forward positions. Of the two, Toronto should only expect a long-term solution at the small forward via free agency. Finding a good wing-man is much easier than finding a serviceable big-man, and that will be the case this summer. Though it's likely the Raptors will throw a good chunk of change at a legitimate big-man, there is no guarantee we will land a game changer.

The top free agent centers Toronto will look at will be: Marc Gasol, Nene Hilario, Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, Yao Ming, Greg Oden, Samuel Dalembert, Chuck Hayes, Kwame Brown, and Nenad Krstic.

Only the first four on that list could be considered "long-term" solutions at center, and some could possibly extend the list to the first seven names. The problem is that Toronto has a very small window to land the few players who could make an impact.

Chandler is expected to sign with the Mavs after winning a championship, the low-salary Clippers have made it a priority to sign Jordan (who enjoys playing there), and the Grizzlies have made it a top priority to keep Gasol at all costs after having a promising playoff run (rumors have suggested they are even looking to move Rudy Gay so they could have more cap-flexibility).

Considering GM Brian Colangelo is smart enough to stay away from Yao or Oden, the only legitimate center would left would be Hilario. The other players can definitely help the Raptors or some other team but aren't talented enough to effect the wins column. New Jersey, Minnesota, and Indiana will be looking at Hilario as well, which will add to the turmoil.

So what makes a mid-late pick in the draft the better solution?

Simple. Look at history.

A good portion of the better centers in the league were selected pretty late in the draft, and it's worth taking a swing at a young center knowing the situation with big-men in today's league.

Here's a list of some very solid big's in the NBA who were taken later than they really should have: Marc Gasol (48th overall), Marcin Gortat (57th overall), Al Jefferson (15th overall), JaVale McGee (18th overall), Roy Hibbert (17th overall), DeAndre Jordan (35th overall), Samuel Dalembert (26th), and Serge Ibaka (24th). Only the few centers considered all-stars were drafted within the top five, but a lot of talented big-men are drafted later on.

Who's worth all the hassle?

This year the draft isn't expected to produce many stars, but it is filled with hidden gems across the board—solid players who might not be worth a top 10 pick could turn out to be major steals if taken late.

There are plenty of underrated big-men in this year's draft, but two prospects can be major steals, and the Raptors should consider being in position to draft them.

First off, Jeremy Tyler, the 19-year-old 'problem child' of this year's draft, has been impressing scouts and climbing draft boards lately. Tyler has the size and ability to make an immediate impact in the NBA, but his draft status has been hurt because of poor decision making.

Tyler decided to play overseas in Israel and Tokyo rather than playing in college. After scoring 28.7 PPG in high school, he was expected to be one of the top players in college basketball, but his decision to leave the country and play professionally hurt his numbers as he struggled to adjust to the international game.

Despite this, Tyler still had an impressive season playing in Japan, averaging 10 PPG and grabbing 6.4 rebounds, on making 51.7 percent of field goals (in 15.4 minutes per game, total 33 games). Per 36 minutes Tyler averaged 23 PPG and 15 rebounds in Tokyo. Imagine if he had similar numbers in college—he'd be a top five pick right now.

Overall, Tyler is probably going to be selected around No. 20, but could go as early as No. 16.

Toronto shouldn't hesitate to obtain a pick in the late-teens and draft Tyler—a player who I feel is this years Demarcus Cousins. He's a little out of shape and has had behavior issues (i.e headbutting an opponent in Israel), but those negatives are really positives because it puts Toronto in a position to draft talent without giving up too much (for a higher pick). At 6'11" and 262 pounds, he will be a great fit for Toronto.

Another widely underrated big in the draft is Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic played for USC, averaging 17 PPG and 10 rebounds while making 50 percent of his field goal attempts. Vucevic is a legit 7'0" and 260-pound center with a 7'5" wingspan.

Despite being a proven talent, Vucevic has gotten no love on mock drafts and is commonly categorized with other Euro prospects who haven't played on North American soil. During the pre-draft combine some scouts raved that Vucevic was the best center on the court, even over the highly touted Enes Kanter.

The 20 year old seems to have the determination and intangibles that can make him an above average starter in the NBA.

Did I mention his father played 24 years in Europe and he made 75 percent of his free throws last season?

Overall, Vucevic is only slightly less talented than Kanter but will be available 10 picks later. Once again if the Raptors make the effort to obtain a second draft pick (Nos. 15-20), they will walk away from this draft as a winner.

It is possible Toronto can acquire another first-rounder and still hunt a center in free agency. If it lands a top center via free agency and drafts either Tyler or Vucevic, that will give Toronto invaluable front-court depth and security (as the free agent could become injury prone and "old" after a season or two, while the draft pick might need one to two years to develop).

How will we obtain the pick?

At this point it's only a matter of how.

Toronto has a roster full of young talent, but nobody wants to break up the young core. The reality is that if we're expecting to bring in at least two to three players this summer, we will also need to ship somebody out (exactly who will depend on what positions are filled through draft, free agency, etc).

Secondly, obtaining a pick in the late teens to early twenties might not be very expensive depending on whom we're trading with.

Here's a few scenario's where we can trade for a draft pick:

Trade: Jerryd Bayless for Johnny Flynn +  No. 20 pick

Bayless is a great young player who's finally breaking out. Many people will be opposed to this deal, but consider the fact if we add Brandon Knight/Kemba Walker, Bayless' role will be assistant backup PG.

Flynn was picked No. 6 overall, and it's funny because Bayless had very similar stats to Flynn when he was in New Orleans. In 11 games, Bayless averaged 4.5 PPG and  2.5 assists, on 34.7 percent shooting. Flynn finished the season averaging 5.4 PPG, 3.5 assists, and 36.5 percent shooting.

Could we turn Flynn's career around like we did Bayless'?

Overall this trade could work for both teams.

Trade: Amir Johnson for James Posey + Lance Stephenson + No. 15 pick

This trade just hurts the Raptors, but Stephenson might have a future while Johnson—as much as we love him—will have a hard time seeing playing time unless we move Andrea Bargnani or Ed Davis.

Posey will be pretty useless, but his contract will come off the books next year.

The real benefit Toronto gets from the trade is the No. 15 pick, which will allow options of many good players (wouldn't it be cool if we got Jimmer Fredette, Klay Thompson, or Alec Burks?).

Trade: James Johnson + Solomon Alabi for Eduardo Najera + No. 19 pick

Johnson himself was the No. 16 pick back in '09, and Charlotte might be interested in trading its second first-rounder for him. Johnson showed signs of improvement last year, scoring 9.2 PPG, grabbing five rebounds, and committing to defense with Toronto.

The Raptors might be able to pull this trade off if the Bobcats don't see anyone special available at No. 20.

Summary:

Overall, Toronto would be wise to trade for a mid-late pick, especially if a lot of teams don't see much value in this "weak" draft.

GM Brian Colangelo hasn't been one to value late picks. We had one this year, but it was traded for James Johnson, and a few years back we traded the No. 17 pick (Roy Hibbert—ahem) in a package to land Jermaine O'Neal and haven't kept any second-round picks the last two seasons.

Even  if the two centers mentioned (Tyler, Vucevic) aren't available, there are plenty of long-term-project players who might even produce from the get-go (Jordan Williams, Lucas Nogueira, etc).

This draft might not produce a Blake Griffin or a John Wall, but it's stacked with the complementary players every team will need to produce a winner.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think.