Toronto Raptors draft: 5 times the Raps gave up on a draftee early

4. C Marcus Camby, 1996, No. 2 overall

In an era when a point guard and a center were paramount to a basketball team’s success in the NBA,  Thomas had the template down pat with his first two draft picks. He followed up the “Mighty Mouse” selection with Marcus Camby, a 6-11 center from the University of Massachusettes, at the 1996 Draft.

The one knock against a young Camby was his inability to stay on the court, but he was talented. He averaged 14.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his rookie season but only competed in 63 games. He would miss another 19 games in his sophomore season, with his scoring averaging dropping slightly to 12.1 per game.

In a short-sighted trade, the Raptors flipped Camby to the rival Knicks in exchange for an aging Charles Oakley.

Raptors acquire experience and toughness vs. youth and durability.

The trade was meant to provide the Raptors with toughness to protect Vince Carter, and initially, the Raptors’ fears about Camby’s health seemed vindicated. Camby wouldn’t start any games for the Knicks in the strike-shortened 1998/99 season on an NBA Finalist squad.

He would follow that season up, playing in only 59 games in his fourth season, starting in only 11 games. In the end, Camby wound up playing in 17 NBA seasons for seven teams (New York twice) with 9.5 points, 2.4 blocks, and 9.8 rebounds per game. He led the league in blocks per game four times, including once with Toronto.

As for Oakley, once considered the heart and soul of the Knicks franchise, he would spend three seasons in Toronto, helping the team to their first two playoff appearances ever. However, He never averaged more than 9.6 points per game or shot better than 43% from the field.

Camby was an athletic big in the middle, which the Raptors never really replaced until they drafted Jonas Valanciunas in 2011.