5 Moves the Toronto Raptors should make but probably won't

No. 3: Trade the No. 31 pick

There are some intriguing prospects in the 2024 NBA Draft, including some players who could be available with the 31st pick of the draft. Holding onto that pick courtesy of the Detroit Pistons via New York in the OG Anunoby trade, the Toronto Raptors will almost certainly be in a position where they watch a player they considered with the 19th pick slipping down the board to them at 31.

Perhaps that player is Tyler Kolek, the star Marquette point guard who could step in and back up Immanuel Quickley from the jump. Perhaps it is a big man like Dayton center DaRon Holmes II who can defend the rim and shoot from outside. Perhaps it's a sharpshooting wing like Kyshawn George or Baylor Scheierman. A player the Raptors love could be waiting for them at 31.

Even if that is the case, the Raptors need to resist the urge to just blindly take that player. They need to have humility about their own draft board and evaluate the value of that pick with detachment. The new two-day format of the NBA Draft this year means that the Raptors will be sitting "on the clock" for 17 or 18 hours while every team in the league gets to stare at that prospect they didn't expect to drop.

Serious trade offers will come in for that 31st pick, and it's very likely that they come in above the value of that pick. Can Toronto land a first-round pick in next year's draft, expected to be much deeper in terms of talent? Can they get such a trove of value that it would be foolish to say no? The Raptors should take the best offer on the board, and that will most likely not be drafting a player with the 31st pick.