Draft night trade still on the table for Raptors

The Toronto Raptors will have a big decision to make in just a few weeks.

In an offseason when the organization is heading into its first full season of a rebuild, all eyes will be on the front office to see how exactly they handle the summer.

On Tuesday, Toronto hosted a six-player pre-draft workout at OVO Athletic Centre, headlined by Toronto native and two-time NCAA Player of the Year Zach Edey.

Toronto will pick 19th overall with a pick obtained from the Pascal Siakam trade with the Indiana Pacers earlier this season, as well as a second-round pick that originally belonged to the Detroit Pistons and is slated to be 31st overall.

But for Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman, just about anything is on the table this year when it comes to how things could shake out. The 2024 class has been widely believed to be a weaker class than usual, but Tolzman posited the positive nature of the unpredictability of this year’s class.

“It does seem like most players have a really wide range [of where they could be drafted],” Tolzman told the media. “Usually, by this time, we have a better idea of at least a smaller group of players that will likely be looking at [with the 19th pick]. [Right now], we have an idea, but at the same time, it could go completely different. [The draft could play out where] it’s a few players that we didn’t expect to go in front of 19 ended up [getting picked], and then it pushes down a handful of guys that we didn’t expect [to still be available] but we just maybe weren’t ready to be looking at [taking].”

For the first time, the draft is splitting the first and second rounds into two days, giving teams an additional 20-something hours to make trades. And for the Raptors, they’re keeping their lines open to any possible calls.

“It’ll be interesting to see,” Tolzman added. “As always, there’s guys that slide into the second round that maybe teams hadn’t expected to be [available]. But we also feel like we could be in a good spot where hopefully someone drops we’d like ourselves… and we’re in a position to hopefully get a really good player].”

The NBA Draft is set for June 26 and 27 in Brooklyn, New York.

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