How Raptors could address key needs at 2023 NBA Draft
No matter what happens from here, Toronto needs shooting and guard depth. Here are four options who could fill them.
It’s kind of like strapping yourself into a seat on a roller coaster. Only you don’t know if the ride is actually going to start, or if it’s just suddenly going to morph into a park bench by a duck pond.
We’re talking of course about the 2023 NBA Draft, and particularly as it pertains to the Toronto Raptors — a talented if under-achieving team fresh off an abrupt play-in game departure and the firing of head coach Nick Nurse.
As Sportsnet’s Michael Grange has pointed out, team president Masai Ujiri and the Raptors seem reluctant to enter into a full-on rebuild. Further on that, GM Bobby Webster says the off-season plan is to re-sign free agents Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl, as well as Gary Trent Jr. if he opts out of the final year of his deal.
Reading between those lines, it sure seems a Raptors-initiated overhaul via dumping key roster assets to move up in the draft (as has been rumoured) feels unlikely.
That said, VanVleet and Trent could still walk, and NBA insider Marc Stein says that’s more likely to happen than not. Such an outcome would hugely exacerbate two huge issues for the 2022–23 team: shooting and guard depth.
The team ranked 28th in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage last season, and Trent and VanVleet sat second and fourth on the team, respectively, among players who appeared in at least half the games.
So when draft night comes around on Thurs., June 22, getting a guard with shooting range feels like a more-than-worthy endeavour. That’s especially true because development is part of new head coach Darko Rajakovic’s core skillset — and he’ll need some clay to mold.
But who in the Raptors’ range makes sense?
Here’s a look at four guards the team could take a strong look at on draft night.
FYI: To assess draft range, I reviewed mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, and The Ringer. From there, I tried to look only at players slated to go 10th or later.
Jordan Hawkins
College team:
University of Connecticut
2022–23 stats:
16.2 PTS/G, 3.8 REB/G, 1.3 AST/G
One of the most familiar names in the draft class because of how his season ended, Hawkins played a major role in UConn’s dominant March Madness run. He hit 44 per cent of his threes in the tournament on the way to a national championship.
The 6’4” shooting guard models his game after Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson — basically the avatar for the kind of player the Raptors, or any team, really, would want in their backcourt.
Mock-draft range: 11–21
Kobe Bufkin
College team:
University of Michigan
2022–23 stats:
14.0 PTS/G, 4.5 REB/G, 2.9 AST/G
Though he played sparingly in his freshman season in 2021–22, Bufkin broke out as a sophomore this past year. He shot 35.5 per cent from three-point land and 48.2 per cent overall — huge improvements over his first-year efficiency numbers.
At 6’4” — like Hawkins — he’s not particularly big for a shooting guard, but he’s got a pretty complete game, chipping in on the boards and with assists.
Mock-draft range: 12–18
Jalen Hood-Schifino
College team:
Indiana University
2022–23 stats:
13.5 PTS/G, 4.1 REB/G, 3.7 AST/G
Kind of breaking the rules here. Hood-Schifino wasn’t a lights-out shooter at Indiana, and that’s not the headline when people talk about him. However, he hit 33.3 per cent as a freshman last season, and has solid form, so stands to get better in that regard.
Aside from that, though, he’s a true playmaking PG with great size at just over 6’4” barefoot. He’s also already got a decent mid-range game, which makes him even more effective as a natural pick-and-roll partner.
Mock-draft range: 13–16
Jett Howard
College team:
University of Michigan
2022–23 stats:
14.2 PTS/G, 2.8 REB/G, 2.0 AST/G
The son of former NBA player and current University of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard, Jett Howard is the lowest-rated of the prospects on our list — slated by some to go later in the first round.
While he’s not an exceptional athlete, he’s got great size at the two-guard spot at 6'8". The owner of deep NBA range, he shot 35 per cent from three-point land as a freshman this past season. He also had the confidence to come out after one season, so he’s certainly not lacking that in his personality make-up.
Mock-draft range: 17–23
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