Khaman Maluach, Carter Bryant and other players Raptors should target at NBA Draft

New York Times

4 hours ago

TORONTO — As you might have guessed based on my last column, I believe the Toronto Raptors should use their pick to select a rookie for next year's roster in Wednesday's first round of the NBA Draft, barring a star who fits better than Kevin Durant would have coming along.
Actually, let's amend that a little bit — I believe they should use a pick to select someone for next year's roster in the first round. Making a trade is always more complicated in practice than in theory. With that said, finding a way to move down and gain a little something extra while still grabbing a player they like later in the first round could be a nice lane for the Raptors.
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'It doesn't seem like there's many options out there, at least to move up,' Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said Monday at a news conference. The Raptors have the ninth pick on Wednesday. They also have the 39th pick, or ninth in the second round, which is Thursday night. 'I think there's a lot of people that have the same feeling as we do — that the top 10, the lottery, whatever, is a pretty good place to be.
'There's definitely interest in people trying to get our pick, I think for the same reason. It's an interesting group of players around there. I wouldn't say (there's an) any-percentage chance that we do one or the other, but there (are) definitely conversations being had of teams trying to get into the top 10 for the same reason as why we like being here right now.'
Tolzman was very clear that the Raptors' top eight players, or whatever the number might be, are surely different from other teams' lists. The notion of 'picking a player too high' is easy to say in the immediate aftermath of a draft, but not often simple to capitalize on as the draft unfolds.
Still, when I look at the draft, there are two players I really like for the Raptors who might be there at nine. After that, the guys who make sense to me — not a draft expert! — might be available lower down. If the Raptors are confident in that and spot some urgency on the other end of a phone call, maybe they can make some magic happen.
More likely: They'll take a player they like with the ninth pick. It's possible that draft experts will bemoan the value of the pick. Then everyone will go about living their lives.
If you'd like to read up on the draft, Sam Vecenie's behemoth draft guide is a good starting point. Maybe you can get through his top 20 prospects between now and the time the draft starts. (His latest mock draft is here.) After having done my share of reading and talking to people I trust, I have formed some strong opinions, loosely held. These are my top five prospects for the Raptors at the ninth pick.
I am assuming Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, Kon Knueppel and Tre Johnson will be off the board. Anybody else is fair game.
1. Khaman Maluach, centre, Duke
7-foot-1 | 253 pounds | 18 years old
I've gone back and forth between my first and second choices, both of whom are unlikely to be available much further down than ninth (and might not make it here at all). If the Raptors end up with either, fans should be happy. I think there is a drop-off in the intersection of talent and Raptors fit after that.
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Ultimately, I have Maluach a bit higher than the player below him because I think he has a clearer path to becoming a difference-maker. The Raptors may sign Jakob Poeltl to an extension this offseason, but he won't be in Toronto forever, and Maluach has the size and bravado to become an All-Defence centre. He's far from a sure thing, and he might top out at an effective rim-runner on offence, but Maluach makes sense.
2. Carter Bryant, wing, Arizona
6-7 | 215 lbs | 19
It's harder to project Bryant as a very good starter on a good team than Maluach, but it is easy to envision him contributing to a good team as a low-usage starter. He's got the size and shooting to do it, even if he was a reserve in his only college year.
If you're married to the idea of the Raptors going high upside with this pick, Bryant won't be for you. He has shown very little as a scorer or playmaker off the bounce. I'm comfortable knowing he will be able to fit in, however the Raptors evolve. With so many guys who are used to having the ball, and Ochai Agbaji a candidate to be traded due to the Raptors' cap situation, give me a player who will fit in next to Scottie Barnes, if nothing else.
3. Thomas Sorber, centre, Georgetown
6-9 | 263 lbs. | 19
Thus ends my list of players whose fit and talent I would love for the Raptors, at least at nine.
Sorber has some similarities to Poeltl. He catches the ball well on the move, is a good passer and shouldn't struggle much with the physicality of the NBA.
Compared to Maluach and even Poeltl, he lacks the height to bring a lineup together defensively, although his 7-6 wingspan will give him a chance. He blocked two shots per game at Georgetown, so it is not as if he is a non-factor. Tolzman spent some time on Monday mentioning how having a centre that can function similarly to Poeltl would be useful. He then said there is also a benefit to having a stylistic difference behind the veteran. Never show your hand!
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Sorber has enough skills to make sense playing in coach Darko Rajaković's system. He is smart on both ends. If the Raptors think they can turn him into a shooter — and they always think that — he would be a fun fit.
4. Jeremiah Fears, guard, Oklahoma
6-3 | 180 lbs | 18
Fears would be a long-term pick for the Raptors, and might have to spend most of the year with Raptors 905, assuming both Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead are healthy.
That's fine. Fears gets into the paint with a blend of speed and shiftiness that nobody on the Raptors roster has. That is Quickley's biggest limitation, and Fears represents a massive swing behind him at guard. His shooting and passing vision are nowhere close to NBA-ready, and it would take some work for him to be an OK defender. Fears has a skill the Raptors haven't had forever, though, and the Raptors have enough depth to wait for him. If you believe in your developmental framework, he'd be a sensible gamble.
For what it's worth, my sense is he would be a hard player to get in a trade-down scenario.
5. Kasparas Jakucionis, guard, Illinois
6-5 | 205 lbs. | 19
I believe in the player, but not the fit. (See also: Collin Murray-Boyles, the defensive-minded, non-shooting forward from South Carolina.) So long as Barnes is here, I don't love the idea of another player who wants the ball in his hands in pick-and-roll scenarios with a work-in-progress shot. People smarter than me say that his outsized role and a forearm injury accounted for his 31.8 percent shooting from 3 at Illinois, and that he is a better shooter than that. Then again, you are not drafting him for him to hang out off the ball. The Jakucionis-Barnes pick-and-roll combo would be comically pass-first.
But he has great vision and would make a ton of sense in a post-Barnes world. If the Raptors were in a pure rebuild, he'd probably be third for me. But they are not.
My next five: 6. Cedric Coward, wing, Washington State; 7. Murray-Boyles; 8. Noa Essengue, big, France; 9. Joan Beringer, big, France; 10. Derik Queen, big, Maryland
(Top photo of Khaman Maluach: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)