Offseason Report Card: Raptors get an A, four Bs, three Cs and a D for summer moves

7. Drafted Ulrich Chomche

Drafted Cameroonian center Ulrich Chomche with the No. 57 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors once took a bet on a raw player out of Cameroon, and he turned into an All-NBA forward and the second-best player on a title team. Years after hitting on Pascal Siakam, and months after trading him away, the Raptors took another swing on a player from Cameroon by drafting Ulrich Chomche.

A graduate of the NBA Academy Africa, Ulrich Chomche was the youngest player in the 2024 NBA Draft; he won't turn 19 until December 30th, just one day before the cutoff. He is incredibly raw but boasts intriguing defensive tools with a 7'4" wingspan. He can move well on defense and should be a great shot-blocking threat. Will he be able to defend in space? Can he do anything on offense?

Chomche showed some flashes as a playmaker in Las Vegas Summer League, and his athleticism clearing the glass was evident. The pieces are there for a good player to emerge.

The difficulty is that the path to that good player appears to be extremely long, with plenty of switchbacks and steep ascents. He can finish lobs and put back offensive rebounds and that's about it on offense, and he may never be anything more than that. He will need to be a truly special defensive player to deserve a rotation role with those limitations, and it may take him two, three, four years to even get to that point.

It's a fine bet to make with the 57th pick; there is real upside and real downside, so using a late pick and a two-way spot seems like the right level of investment. It just feels like Chomche is more like another Raptors pick, Bruno Caboclo, then he is Pascal Siakam. We may be two years away from being two years away from finding out.

Grade: C+