NBA draft live blog: News, rumours and analysis from a wild day for Raptors and basketball fans
The wildest day on the
NBA
calendar is here.
The NBA draft officially gets underway at 8 p.m. ET tonight but the fun has already begun. Hours before
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
and his
Oklahoma City Thunder
clinched the NBA championship on Sunday night, the off-season started with a bang when Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets.
Trade rumours have swirled around the Raptors for months and plenty of NBA deals are expected as teams gather in New York for the draft.
Star columnist Bruce Arthur will be live blogging throughout the evening as we follow all the news, rumours and draft selections involving the Raptors — who will pick at No. 9 tonight — and the rest of the NBA.
BROOKLYN, N.Y.—The Raptors are known as an organization that keeps its cards close to its chest, making it difficult to pinpoint which top NBA prospects were invited for pre-draft workouts over the last few weeks.
The private meetings are a good indication of which players the team is interested in drafting. It's anyone's guess as to who they might take ninth overall at Wednesday's draft in Brooklyn, N.Y. — or if they'll end up picking in the top 10 at all.
As rumours swirl around the Raptors potentially trading their pick, here are the prospects invited to the NBA Draft green room who confirmed to the Star that they did, in fact, work out for Toronto.
Read more here:
Steak dinners, crab cakes and love for Toronto: We asked NBA draft prospects if they worked out for the Raptors
NBA draft prospect Noa Essengue, who played for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany last season, could be a target for the Raptors at No. 9.
First, the full disclosure: All of this, or most of it, is likely to be wrong so no holding it over us and this is just for recreational use.
But after some research, some conversations, some logical assessment, here's the best we've got for the 2025 NBA mock lottery draft.
Mock as you will and understand that even the true experts don't know.
'Our eight is probably different than every other team's eight above us,' was how Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said Monday. 'So where the lines are made of (about) who goes ahead of us to the next six guys after us … it's kind of blurry.'
Read the Star's mock draft here:
NBA mock draft | Who we believe the Raptors will take and how the lottery picks will play out
Khaman Maluach of the Duke Blue Devils is a potential target for the Raptors with the No. 9 pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night, if they keep it.
Over the last couple of months, the Star has profiled 2025 NBA draft prospects, including some who the Raptors could target Wednesday.
About halfway through our series, the NBA draft lottery ping pong balls determined that the Raptors would be drafting ninth, giving us a better picture of who the Raptors might take a look at.
Below is an overview of the players we've covered, what makes some a potential fit for the Raptors, and links to the full profiles.
Read more:
Raptors targets, top prospects and a Canadian first-rounder
Canadian NBA draft prospect Will Riley, pictured on the left attending a Raptors game during the 2018-19 season and at the NBA combine in Chicago earlier this month.
Will Riley is pencilled in as the 22nd pick in a recent ESPN mock draft, though the Star has learned that some teams drafting in the lottery range have considered Riley. His scoring instincts and ability to create his own shot have caught the attention of NBA executives and scouts.
At the draft combine in Chicago in May, Riley met and interviewed with 12 teams. He will become the second player from Kitchener to be drafted since Jamal Murray went seventh to the Denver Nuggets in 2016.
He's also gotten plenty of love from the Durant family.
Read the full profile here:
Inside Will Riley's journey to the NBA draft: Love from the Durant family, inspiration from Jamal Murray and a basketball addiction
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