Toronto Raptors: Five moves the Raptors should make this off-season
By Jason Mills
Select a center with the 29th pick of the 2020 NBA Draft
One of the Toronto Raptors’ flaws this season was their size. The Raptors were a guard and wingman loaded roster with six small forwards. The team did not have an adequate backup to Pascal Siakam, with Stanley Johnson nearly nailed to the bench all season long.
There were also times that both Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol were injured, and it meant small forward Rondae Hollis Jefferson had to play center against the Phoenix Suns one night. At 29th overall in the NBA Draft, the Raptors could select prospect Zeke Nnaji, a six-foot eleven-inch pf/c from Arizona.
Even if Zeke Nnaji needs to develop at the G-League level, the Toronto Raptors organization has done exceptionally well in this department. The Raptors 905 have played a massive role in Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and other young players regularly contributing to the main roster.
At the moment, Zeke Nnaji has moved up about five spots on mock drafts with he current projections on nbadraft.net, suggesting the New York Knicks could take Zeke Nnaji at number 27.
If that is the case, it might be possible to work out a deal with the Knicks for center Mitchell Robinson who recently signed a manageable three-year deal at 4.7 million. He is averaging 2.2 block shots per game and could back up Serge Ibaka while Chris Boucher could back up Pascal Siakam.
Should one or neither of these moves work out, Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Clippers is an unrestricted free agent. He earned six million this past season, and depending on cap restraints and the market; the Raptors could offer him a three year 45-50 million dollar deal.
He could be a useful and productive backup at both the power forward and center spot. Harrell averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game with the Clippers this season and would provide the size the Raptors lacked in 2019/20.