No. 4: Isaiah Todd, PF, G League Ignite
This is the first year the NBA is using the G League as a proving ground for draft prospects. The G League Ignite Team includes several potential draftees, including Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix, and Kai Sotto, among plenty of other talented players, both young and old.
Because of this new development process, it’s difficult to project what these guys will be once entering the NBA. Does the G League make it easier for big-name prospects to thrive? Or is the savvier competition make for a more accurate depiction of early NBA production? We don’t know, that’s part of the fun.
But in looking at Todd, you can’t deny the skills are there. A true product of watching modern basketball all his life, Todd is a 6’10 PF/C with the skills of a guard. He has a nice shooting stroke, is mobile with the ball, and takes flight for dunks with regularity
Raptors draft: Isaiah Todd is a bit risky.
So, a 6’10 guy with 3-level scoring potential? On paper the skills look ideal, so why is Isaiah Todd projected to fall to the second round?
Todd may have the frame of an NBA big, but at only 200 pounds he’s likely to get bullied by stronger players early in his career. Still, there have been plenty of players who came into the league skinny and built themselves up.
The only other drawback is the small sample of Todd’s game. Playing on the G League Ignite, Todd was the fourth or fifth banana on a team that featured two top seven picks in Green and Kuminga, as well as a smattering of former NBA players.
If Todd had gone to college and been the clear number one guy on his team, the opportunity to showcase his skills would grow and so would the attention they got.
That’s why Todd could be a steal if the Raptors can grab him in the second round. He has the skills to be a first-round pick, but because of the way he spent this past year he won’t get the draft recognition he deserves.