Raptors Draft: 3 Shockwaves from disappointing Lottery that will shape the future
The Toronto Raptors went into the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery with a large helping of uncertainty about what would happen. Finishing with the sixth-worst record in the NBA last year gave them about a 50/50 chance of keeping their pick. Finish with a Top-6 pick and they would keep it; if they fell back in the order to seventh or eighth and the pick would go to the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lottery results were revealed on Sunday afternoon, with All-Star Scottie Barnes up on the dais for the Raptors. He was stuck looking sheepish as the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets leapt over the Raptors in the order, pushing Toronto's pick back to eighth and therefore sending it to the Spurs.
The Hawks leapt all the way up to the first overall pick, winning the lottery despite just 3 percent odds to do so. The Washington Wizards landed second, the Rockets third, and the Spurs' own pick fell in at fourth. The Detroit Pistons once again finished with the worst record in the league but fell to fifth, their third-straight year picking fifth.
No. 3: The Toronto Raptors lost their pick
The biggest shockwave of the lottery is that the Raptors will not have a 2024 lottery pick. When the team traded for center Jakob Poeltl at the 2023 Trade Deadline they sent the Spurs a protected first-round pick that would convey in 2024 unless they finished with a Top-6 pick. The Raptors expected at the time to convey the pick, but because they would be well into the playoff standings, not because they fell back in the lottery and sent a Top-10 pick.
The 2024 Draft class is thought to be a weak one at the top, but as a rebuilding team the Raptors still would have preferred to pick as highly as possible and add a talented prospect to their roster. Instead, they won't pick until 19th when they use the Indiana Pacers' pick acquired in the Pascal Siakam trade.
Losing the eighth overall pick was very nearly the worst-case scenario for the trade, and it's clear the deal was something close to a disaster for Toronto, as Poeltl is now under contract long-term on a deal that may be negative value. It was a bad trade at the time, and it looks all the worse now.