Raptors Rapture
Fansided

Toronto Raptors: The Raptors should consider drafting these prospects

By Jason Mills

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 29: Zeke Nnaji #22 of the Arizona Wildcats dunks the ball in the second half of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on February 29, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Arizona Wildcats 69-64. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 29: Zeke Nnaji #22 of the Arizona Wildcats dunks the ball in the second half of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on February 29, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Arizona Wildcats 69-64. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

There are many questions the Toronto Raptors’ management will have to address in the 2020 off-season.  One big question is what to do with the 29th overall draft pick at the 2020 NBA draft.

The NBA Finals are well underway, finally, and the Toronto Raptors failed to return that stage in which they earned the 2019 NBA Championship. It wasn’t a bad season by any stretch for the Raptors bowing out of their potential title defense in a second-round seven-game series won by the Boston Celtics.

The Raptors have significant questions that must be solved with signings, trades, or draft picks to fill holes in their roster. One of the first and perhaps most serious considerations determining what the Raptors’ management team does is the salary cap. The cap either provides flexibility to make the necessary transactions or handicaps a team’s player movement depending on how much of it they have committed in long-term contracts.

Then, there is the year that has been 2020. With the season postponed back on March 11, 2020, due to COVID-19 and then resuming on July 30, 2020, in a bubble, in Florida, the NBA’s 30 franchises have lost gate, concession, and merchandise revenue. Before COVID-19, the NBA salary cap was projected to rise to 115 million, with the luxury tax level reaching as high as 139 million.

If the cap drops, as it did in 2002, general managers across the NBA will need to find cheap, temporary solutions to roster flaws. In the Raptors case, it may mean not re-signing Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka, and Raondae Hollis Jefferson. The 29th draft pick at the 2020 NBA Draft becomes intriguing. Instead of just moving it for cap space, it could fill a pressing need for the lineup. The 2020 NBA Draft is scheduled for November 18th, 2020.

Currently, the Raptors need depth or size in the frontcourt, a big guard who can defend and shoot three’s, and a consistent scorer.  The following are three prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft who could help the Toronto Raptors.