Regardless of the sport, the easiest way to improve your team is through the draft process. The Raptors Eastern Conference foes are getting better through the draft while the Raptors stand pat and continue to miss on the picks they have made.
The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers have traditionally been teams that have been able to attract free agents to come play in their city without having to sell the player and their agent on the benefits of playing in that market.
For the rest of the NBA, the draft has been the path to building a winner in the league.
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Look no further than the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. The core of the Warriors were all drafted by Golden State and developed into superstars including Steph Curry (2009), Klay Thompson (2011) and Draymond Green (2012).
The Cleveland Cavaliers were also built through the draft including LeBron James (2003), Kyrie Irving (2011) and Tristan Thompson (2011). I know LeBron signed as a free agent but he was originally drafted by the Cavs.
Several teams in the Eastern Conference are beginning to leap frog the Raptors as the main competition for the Cavs and they have done so through the draft process and not necessarily by signing free agents.
The Raptors have been struggling to attract big name free agents to come and play in Toronto which is why it is becoming more important for the Raptors to start hitting on some of their picks.
Going back to the 2014 draft (which was the Raptors first under Masai Ujiri), the Raptors haven’t drafted a single player that has gone on to become a regular starter for the team.
Here are the Raptors draft picks since 2014.
2014 Round 1 – Bruno Caboclo
2014 Round 2 – DeAndre Daniels
2014 Round 2 – Xavier Thames
2015 Round 1 – Delon Wright
2016 Round 1 – Jakob Poeltl
2016 Round 1 – Pascal Siakam
2017 Round 1 – OG Anunoby
The Raptors draft since 2014 can be graded as a “C plus” at best.
Wright, Poeltl and Siakam are decent role players but none are true difference makers on the floor.
ESPN projected the Boston Celtics as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference for the 2017-18 season and the Celtics resurgence has come through the draft process.
Celtics GM (and former Toronto Blue Jay) Danny Ainge managed to stockpile 18 draft picks since 2014 and has landed some quality players in that process.
The Celtics landed Jayson Tatum with the No. 3 overall pick in this years draft as well as regular contributors Marcus Smart (2014), Terry Rozier (2015) and Jaylen Brown (2016).
The Philadelphia 76ers have become a threat in the East by stockpiling draft picks. They have drafted 17 players since 2014. They now have a core of extremely talented young players including Markelle Fultz (2017), Ben Simmons (2016), Joel Embiid (2014) and Jahlil Okafor (2015).
The Milwaukee Bucks have also hit on more picks than the Raptors with their eight selections since 2014 including Jabari Parker (2014), Thon Maker (2016) as well as Norman Powell (2015) who is now with the Raptors. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the No. 15 overall pick in 2013 for the Bucks.
The rest of the Eastern conference is closing the gap on the Raptors via the draft and the Raptors draft woes are starting to become more evident with the teams lack of depth at several positions.
Sooner or later they are going to have to start getting a few hits on some of these picks or else you can expect an inevitable slide down the Eastern Conference standings.
Next: Time for the Raptors to move on from the Bruno Caboclo mistake.