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Toronto Raptors: The 3 most disappointing Draft Picks of all-time

By Alexandro Fidanza

Toronto Raptors had chance of drafting Nikola Jokic in 2014 (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Toronto Raptors had chance of drafting Nikola Jokic in 2014 (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors – Bruno Caboclo (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

2. Toronto Raptors selected Bruno Caboclo with 20th overall pick and DeAndre Daniels at 37th in the 2014 NBA Draft

Bruno Caboclo had a four-year stint with the Toronto Raptors before he eventually was shipped off in 2018 after failing to ever develop his game to the level of the Raptors’ expectations. But before all that, there is a reason Masai Ujiri risked taking what was an expected second-rounder as a lottery pick. The 18-year-old Brazilian was a physical specimen who had all the raw talent in the world.

Ujiri viewed Caboclo as a long-term project and believed he can develop him into a solid NBA player with the right development. He did become a solid defender, however, his offensive game never developed. Caboclo’s three-point percentage would never improve, and his field goal percentage was 39.10 percent — let’s not forget he is a center/forward.

It is fair to say what Ujiri saw in Caboclo can be compared with what he saw in Pascal Siakam. Yet, Caboclo never even scratched the surface of what Siakam has done. Caboclo failed to ever improve his game after four years and was never worthy of a lottery pick. In what was allegedly a “bad” draft class, it was a bad pick nonetheless.

  • Notable lottery picks that were available at pick 20: Bogdan Bogdanović, Clint Capela, Rodney Hood, Kyle Anderson

But that was arguably not even the worst pick of the draft for the Toronto Raptors. At number 37, they picked DeAndre Daniels. A player who never even stepped foot in the NBA. This is all the worse when we look at the next nine draft picks, where six of those players would turn out to be key pieces in the NBA.

38. Spencer Dinwiddie

39. Jerami Grant

40. Glenn Robinson

41. Nikola Jokić

45. Dwight Powell

46. Jordan Clarkson

It is rough to look at when you think they could’ve had any of these players but were instead stuck with a goose egg.

In an area (drafting) where Masai has flourished, for the most part, the 2014 draft is easily his worst draft ever and one he’d more than love to have that one back.

  • Bruno Caboclo with Raptors: 113 minutes, 25 games, 27 points total
  • DeAndre Daniels with Raptors: N/A