The Toronto Raptors are in danger of missing the playoffs and heading back into the lottery. The last time that happened, the Raptors selected Scottie Barnes fourth overall and got a franchise cornerstone. Toronto has done well in the draft in recent years, especially finding gems late in the first round like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
The NBA Draft is an inexact science. The top prospects do not always turn out to be the best NBA players, and the Raptors have never been afraid to shoot for upside with their picks. That often means taking less polished players, which adds some bust potential.
Toronto has favored selecting wings and big men in the draft, and they have taken plenty of busts since joining the NBA in 1995. Here is a look at the franchise’s worst picks made into a starting five.
Toronto Raptors All-Time Draft Bust Starting 5
PG: Malachi Flynn
It might be a bit early to put Flynn on this list to some, but he has struggled in his first three NBA seasons. Flynn was the 29th overall selection in 2020, and the pandemic severely impacted the draft process that year. Practice time was limited and none of the traditional showcases took place, which put Flynn further behind in his development.
In his first three seasons combined, Flynn has averaged 5.6 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. He has shot 37.8 percent from the field and just 74.0 percent on his free throws. Flynn played 19.7 minutes per game as a rookie, and he has not come close to that number over the last two seasons.
Malachi Flynn has struggled for the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors have only selected two point guards in the first round since their inception in 1995, and Damon Stoudamire won Rookie of the Year in 1996. That left Flynn as the only option for this selection, but he is in danger of fully going down as a bust if his production does not increase soon.
SG: Terrence Ross
The Raptors were fresh off missing the playoffs for a fourth straight year in 2012 when they drafted Ross with the eighth overall pick. The 6-6 wing was coming off of a breakout second season at Washington, and Toronto desperately needed some scoring punch on the wing next to DeMar DeRozan.
Ross was a fine role player during his four and half seasons with the Raptors, but he never lived up to the hype of a top-ten draft pick. He averaged 9.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game before being traded to the Magic just before the deadline in 2017.
Terrence Ross never became a star for the Toronto Raptors.
The 32-year-old currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. He is on his third team and in his 11th NBA season. Ross is still playing 20 to 25 minutes per game off the bench.
Terrence Ross did not live up to the hype, but few can fault the Raptors for the pick. Evan Fournier and Austin Rivers are the only two wings still in the NBA that were picked after him in the first round. Khris Middleton, Draymond Green, and Jae Crowder were all taken in the second round, but selecting those players in the lottery would have been a massive gamble at the moment.
SF: Bruno Caboclo
Caboclo will forever be an infamous draft pick for the Toronto Raptors after ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla dubbed him “2 years away from being 2 years away” on the telecast.
The 20th overall pick in 2014 was an extremely raw 6-9 forward with limited experience. Caboclo was born in Brazil, and he did not play basketball until he was 13 years old. Caboclo was a tremendous athlete with untapped potential, but nobody knew what exactly that would look like on the basketball floor.
It never worked out. Caboclo played seven years in the NBA with four different teams, but he averaged more than 20 minutes per game just once and shot just 40.3 percent from the field for his career. Caboclo is currently playing for Ulm in the German BBL.
Bruno Caboclo never developed for the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors passed on Bogdan Bogdanovic, Clint Capela, Kyle Anderson, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant, and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic to draft Bruno Caboclo. All seven of those players went in the next 21 selections with Jordan Clarkson and Canadian Dwight Powell going in the mid-second round.
The Toronto Raptors took a home run cut on Caboclo, but it was a whiff and a sad walk back to the dugout thinking about all the players they missed out on.
PF/C: Rafael Araujo
The Raptors had just missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year after their three straight trips to the postseason when they had the eighth overall draft pick in 2004. Toronto desperately needed help if they were going to return to the playoffs.
Rafael Araujo was born in Brazil but came to the United States to play college basketball. He starred at Arizona Western and BYU before jumping to the NBA. Araujo tested positive for steroids at the 2002 World Championships, and he was suspended from playing for his national team for two years.
Rafael Araujo was awful for the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors thought they had drafted one of their future starting big men, but Araujo never found his footing in the NBA. He lasted just two seasons in Toronto where he averaged 2.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per game before being traded to the Jazz in 2006. After one season in Utah, Araujo left the NBA for a career overseas.
Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, and Kevin Martin were all drafted in the first round in 2004 after Araujo. In fact, the eighth overall selection had the second worst value over replacement player (VORP) for his career among that year’s first-round selections.
C: Aleksandar Radojevic
The Raptors missed the playoffs in each of their first four years as an NBA franchise, but they had two top 12 selections in the 1999 draft. Toronto traded the fifth overall selection for Antonio Davis and used the 12th overall pick to take Radojevic. The 7-3 big man out of Montenegro started playing basketball at 16 years old and took a wild path to the NBA.
Radojevic committed to play for Ohio State but was ruled ineligible, so he played for Barton County Community College in Kansas for two years. Things did not stop there. He dominated at the junior college but fell into more hot water after being given a loan by then-Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien. Ultimately, Radojevic was declared ineligible by the NCAA, so he entered 1999 NBA Draft and was a lottery pick based on his potential alone.
Aleksandar Radojevic was a failure with the Toronto Raptors.
The 7’3 big man played in three games with the Raptors as a rookie before heading back overseas after the season. He returned to the NBA after four years and had a cameo with the Utah Jazz before finishing his career playing back overseas.
Aleksandar Radojevic was a massive bust that was selected ahead of Andrei Kirilenko, Metta World Peace, James Posey, and Corey Maggette in the first round in 1999.