7 Stars the Toronto Raptors missed drafting by a single pick

2012 - Drafted Terrence Ross, one pick after Andre Drummond

In 2012 the Toronto Raptors were on the precipice of climbing up the standings. After winning just 23 games in 2011-12 they were unlucky to fall to eighth in the 2012 NBA Draft, and they would pick in the lottery just one more time before becoming a perennial playoff team over the next decade. 2012 was a shot at landing a difference-maker to add to their core.

Anthony Davis went first overall to the New Orleans Hornets, a franchise-defining player at No. 1. Bradley Beal went third and Damian Lillard sixth. One pick before the Raptors were the Golden State Warriors, who tanked hard at the end of the season after Stephen Curry was shut down due to injury and kept its top-7 protected first-round pick; the Warriors took Harrison Barnes.

That left the Toronto Raptors in something of a pickle. The best player on the board by general consensus was Andre Drummond, but he played the same position as the Raptors' Top-5 pick from the year before, mountainous Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas. They instead reached for Washington guard Terrence Ross.

Drummond went on to make two All-Star teams, one All-NBA team and lead the league in rebounding four different times. Ross, outside of one 50-point explosion (there's something in the water in Toronto) was a largely forgettable shooting guard, a player on the fringe of starting and coming off the bench during his Raptors tenure, a fine selection but not special as Drummond was.

In four consecutive picks went Damian Lillard (future Hall of Famer), Harrison Barnes (starter on a champion team) and Andre Drummond, with Terrence Ross the one who doesn't belong.