The Toronto Raptors draft plans are much more interesting this season. With multiple second-round picks, taking a swing on high-upside players is a useful tactic.
Overseas players often boast the kind of skills and unique quirks that turn out insane talents, like Nikola Jokic and Marc Gasol, but they also pose a greater risk of busting. For every steal like Jokic, there are twenty Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Darko Milicic, and Fred Weis types, but that one in a million chance is still worth taking a swing on.
The Raptors already have an impressive core, but they are still searching for that one superstar to take them back to contention. It’s the hardest thing to find in the league, but it’s why gambling on slightly riskier second-round talents is worth it.
Here are 5 of some of the biggest draft prospects from overseas. Players you may not have heard of, but will be even more intriguing come draft night. If their talents are developed well enough, they could become a part of the core long-term.
These 5 international players could become Toronto Raptors draft picks.
1. Josh Giddey (Australia)
Player Comp: Tyrese Haliburton
A 6’8 playmaking point guard putting up big numbers in Australia. Sound familiar?
Giddey might be the prettiest prospect in the 2021 NBA Draft but that doesn’t mean he’s soft. Playing with grown men is always a plus when considering experience, especially when looking over an 18-year-old draft prospect. We’ve seen the benefits of stiffer competition already with more and more college-age players electing instead to play in professional leagues overseas.
Though unlike LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton, Giddey was born and raised in Australia. He isn’t some highly scouted American coming over and stealing the show from the best down under.
Giddey grew up in Australia, which means he not only rose to the highest level of the game without the help of the media, but also had to earn the respect of his peers the old-fashioned way.
ESPN Story: Josh Giddey – a playmaking 6-foot-8 Australian guard – is entering the 2021 NBA Draft. Giddey is the No. 13 player in the ESPN Top 100 and could climb in the draft lottery. https://t.co/w1Vvg5xVbt
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2021
On the court, he’s not a super athlete by any means, not that strong, decently fast end-to-end, but nothing to write home about. Mostly, his gifts lie in his skill at 6-8. He has a really high basketball IQ and prefers to be a distributor rather than a scorer.
The key with so many of these guys is the jump shot. Giddey only shot 31% from 3-point range last year playing for Adelaide, but expect that percentage to be higher during his rookie year in the NBA.
Because he had so much responsibility handling the ball for his team, most of Giddey’s 3-point opportunities came off the dribble. In the NBA where he won’t be asked to be the primary offensive initiator right away, expect to see easier catch-and-shoot threes come his way.
The Toronto Raptors could draft Josh Giddey in the first round.
He has a lot of growing up to do physically and in terms of form, but the intelligence at his age is Giddey’s selling point in the draft.
For the Raptors, Giddey would be another initiator that could run alongside Fred VanVleet and Toronto’s other smaller guards. The Raptors don’t really have another player like him, and it would allow Nick Nurse more flexibility off the bench, having a playmaker that is able to defend wings and forwards.
Giddey could be a guy to come in and be in the rotation right away. He’s in the Raptors draft range and if the team is about to lose a certain all-star point guard in free agency, it may be smart to be proactive in acquiring our playmaker of the future.