Toronto Raptors: Five potential first round prospects to keep an eye on

Zeke Nnaji

Zeke Nnaji is a former five-star recruit, but entered college basketball without much fanfare. He committed to Arizona and arrived in Tuscon in the shadow of Nico Mannion and Josh Green. Despite that, Nanji established himself as one of the team’s most consistent contributors and was named PAC-12 Freshman of the Year.

Nnaji has great size at 6-foot-11, with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. He averaged 16.1 points and 8.6 points per game. Nnaji has shown the ability to score out of the post or in transition. But there are questions about his fit at the next level.

Nnaji needs to become a more consistent outside shooter. He hasn’t shown the ability to space the floor. Nnaji shot 29.4 percent from three-point range this season. But Nnaji is a good free-throw shooter at 76 percent, which suggests that with time and repetition, he can develop this part of his game.

The other problem is that Nnaji doesn’t protect the rim. He has only 28 blocks through 32 games this season. Modern NBA offenses typically only play one big to have proper floor spacing. A big who cannot anchor a team’s defense often has trouble staying on the court.

The Sacramento Kings have discovered that with Marvin Bagley III. Bagley is a talented player, but he isn’t a stretch-5 and can’t protect the rim. He is better suited to play the 4, which makes finding the proper lineup combinations difficult.

With that being said, there is no question that Nnaji much like Bagley has a place in the NBA. These flaws may keep Nnaji from being selected in the lottery. But when a team is picking late in the first round, it is mostly about finding someone who can become a legitimate rotation player.

ESPN has Nnaji projected to go no. 27. Sports Illustrated is slightly higher on him at no. 23. Bleacher Report doesn’t have Nnaji being selected in the first round.