Beyond the Toronto Raptors: Who are Canada’s best players?
By Go Paolo
Tier C: Stuck in limbo
This is the hardest tier to get a bead on. You can make a case that any of these players should be a tier below or a tier above and it depends on how well they’ll play this 2019-20 season. They are one bad season away from heading to G-League or overseas or one good season away from having a more definitive role in the NBA.
Trey Lyles
Lyles was drafted 12th overall by the Utah Jazz and has had a ho-hum NBA career. More damning for him are the successes of Devin Booker, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Jerami Grant, all players taken shortly after him. While he won’t be much outside of a stretch-four on a second unit, Lyles is the type who can stick in the NBA as a journeyman.
Khem Birch
Big ups to Birch who worked his way into the NBA after going undrafted in 2014. The difference between him and Boucher is he’s managed to carve out a decent role for himself with the Magic as a defensive forward. While his stats are modest, Birch has a positive impact on the team and is sneakily valuable.
Mfiondu Kabengele*
Kabengele might be the toughest player to rate here. As a rookie, he’s one of those “high-ceiling, low floor” type of guys. He has the right NBA body and can shoot the ball, perfect for today’s big man. But there are also concerns about his basketball IQ and his durability. There’s a slight chance he blossoms into a starter-quality big – emphasis on “slight”.
Dillon Brooks
Brooks was the lone Canadian drafted in 2017, picked in the 2nd round by the Rockets who traded him to Memphis. He quickly made a name for himself scoring 19 points in his début, the most by a Canadian player at the time.
His 2018-19 season was hampered by injuries and he has yet to find himself back in the rotation. But if his start to this season is any indication, Brooks could be an instant scorer off the bench.
Andrew Wiggins
How many of us still believe in Andrew Wiggins? It seems just like yesterday he was en route to tearing up the league with his 23.6 points. But nowadays, the only thing tearing up are his fans and teammates whenever he touches the ball.
Wiggins is an inefficient volume scorer, a slack defender, and the Wolves are a lot worse with him on the court. The worst part is, he seems to be getting worse. At just 24-years-old, he can still turn it around, although we won’t hold our breath on that.