Rafael Araujo – 8th overall (2004)
Rafael ‘Haffa’ Araujo was one of the biggest wasted picks in Raptors history. Another in a long line of reaches, the selection of Araujo was just as strange as Richard Peddie’s decision to ignore the fact that Vince Carter had got Julius Erving to agree to become the general manager of the Toronto Raptors in favour of hiring the now infamous (and recently deceased) Rob Babcock.
Araujo did have an impressive senior season at BYU but was not the top-rated player available on any other big board. The top player available, and the player that went directly after him at ninth overall was Andre Iguodala. Araujo was not even the top-rated center left on the board as high schooler Al Jefferson somehow slipped to 15th overall.
Araujo would go on to play 111 games for the Toronto Raptors, starting 75 of them. After averaging 18.4 points, 10.1 rebounds at Brigham Young University, he averaged just 2.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12 minutes per game as a member of the Toronto Raptors. Bryan Colangelo quickly ended the Araujo ‘era’ as he was mercifully traded in 2006 for a useful rotation player in Kris Humphries.
Araujo was completely overmatched in the NBA and lasted just three seasons. He would go on to spend time in Russia, China, and Brazil. Andre Iguodala is still in the NBA and was named the 2014-15 NBA Finals MVP. Al Jefferson played at a high level for seven of his 14 seasons and made the All-NBA team in 2013-14.