Toronto Raptors draft: Canadian players Raptors may target in 2021

Toronto Raptors draft target: Chris Duarte, SG, Oregon.

Omoruyi isn’t the only player from Oregon eyeing the next step in his basketball career. His teammate in Duarte has declared for the 2021 NBA draft.

Duarte is a Dominican-Canadian, born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Montreal. He moved to New York with his family for his final two years of high school so that he could play basketball at Redemption Christian Academy. In those years, Duarte impressed enough to earn the ranking of the fifth-best player in the state of New York.

With the Ducks this past season, Duarte continued with his high-level play. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. The 6-6 shooting guard made 53% of his shots from the field and 42 percent of his three-point attempts.

Toronto Raptors: Chris Duarte could be a first-round pick

On top of Duarte’s ability to drain buckets, his best quality might be his defense. This season he averaged 0.8 blocks and 1.9 steals per game. That helped the senior earn the 2021 Jerry West Award as the nation’s top collegiate shooting guard.

This wasn’t Duarte’s first award. Prior to joining Oregon, he played for Northwest Florida State College and was named the NABC NJCAA Player of the Year in 2019. The last NBA player to win that award was Kadeem Allen who took home the hardware in 2014.

The Raptors will certainly have an interest in Duarte. If they are able to acquire the 23-year-old, it will give Toronto assistance on both ends of the floor. He could be an ideal first-round selection, provided the Raptors aren’t beaten to the punch. Perhaps a trade-up is in the works?

With Chris Boucher and Khem Birch on the Raptors roster, the club is slowly collecting Canadian talent. The natural progression would be for Toronto to look to add quality northerners via the draft. It would be great to see another Canadian thrive in a Raptors jersey, especially if they’re going to help the team also collect wins.