Toronto Raptors draft: 5 best international prospects to look at

5. Ariel Hukporti (Germany)

Player Comp: Deandre Ayton-lite

The Raptors still need a future at center. Khem Birch has panned out nicely, but he can’t be expected to carry Toronto to the promised land. There is still a hole left at the 5-man position, and this guy could fill it.

Say hello to Ariel Hukporti. 19 years old out of Germany, the most striking thing watching this guy play is his mobility at 6’11 and 250 pounds. He runs like the wind, jumps, and all while carrying around that weight and power.

Athletically he’s ideal, but he’s more than just a big body. Hukporti’s greatest skill is his fluidity at that size. Not just his power movements, but his comfort handling the ball as a center. He uses push-crosses and hop steps to get into the lane, and has no problem grabbing a rebound off the board and taking it coast-to-coast.

His ball skills are what will make him such a fun prospect coming in. Any time a center with on-ball potential comes strolling by everyone immediately gets out their photos of Giannis/Bam/Embiid, but Hukporti is really a different kind of player.

His offensive awareness is lacking some. He has nice instincts for shot blocks and intercepting passing lanes, but on the other end, he can get tunnel vision on his way to the rim.

In the post, he’s most effective facing up, but his footwork is nice and he has the baseline for an effective post game.  He’s been working to develop a 3-point shot and has shown some ability to pull up off the dribble from mid, but he’s inconsistent shooting.

His selling point early on in his career will be on the defensive end.  He’s already proven himself to be a shot-blocking center with enough foot speed to stay in front of wings.

Mostly, the Raptors would be drafting him for his body, and then be working him through their training system to get the most out of his finesse skills. It’s unclear how much of his shooting and creation is a product of the slow bigs he’s playing around right now in Europe and how much is his own ability, but it’s the kind of talent that’s rare to find in the second round.