3 Raptors preseason stars who made statements to Nick Nurse

1. C Christian Koloko

Koloko was drafted with the expectation that he was going to take a while to fully mold into a star. He had defensive skills, but how long would it take to turn the proverbial lemons of his offensive games into lemonade? These three games have shown that Koloko is further along than we anticipated.

Seven points and three rebounds against the Jazz was a good way to start, but finishing with six points and three rebounds while helping Toronto come back against Boston confirms that he is clearly above Khem Birch in the pecking order. His start against Houston was extremely impressive.

Christian Koloko looks like a Toronto Raptors steal.

Koloko recorded three rebounds and four blocked shots in the first half of his start against the Rockets, showing that he didn’t look out of place among a collection of NBA starters. Bruno Fernando isn’t exactly Hakeem Olajuwon, but Koloko was locking him down early on.

His offensive game might not be super versatile just yet, but it’s clearly going to be if he manages to get the right systems in place around him. No matter what happens in the final two games, Koloko looks like a player that Raptors fans should expect to hear more from in the next few years.