Raptors News: Unending losses, Ben Simmons trade, gambling scandal, stars to sign

Raptors Draft Targets

While the fate of their first-round pick is still up in the air, the Toronto Raptors are guaranteed to go into the 2024 NBA Draft with at least two selections: Indiana's first-round pick acquired in the Pascal Siakam trade, and Detroit's top-tier second-round pick acquired from New York in the OG Anunoby deal.

Who could the Raptors target? There are certainly plenty of options available in what is considered to be a weak draft, lacking top-end talent and having a large pool of similarly-rated players. That could make for a wild draft where one team has a player ranked 15th and another has them rated 45th.

Gambling Scandal

Jontay Porter has been an intriguing find for the Raptors this season, a center signed to a two-way contract who has flashed real two-way pop when he has taken the court. He is a capable defender and rim protector, is comfortable shooting from distance and is a gifted passer. It would not be surprising to see him in the bench rotation next season.

That role, and indeed Porter's entire career, seems up in the air given recent news. It was reported on Monday that the NBA is investigating Porter following "multiple instances of betting irregularities" this season. You can read the full story broken by ESPN here, but in essence there was a lot of action on Porter prop bets taking the "under" for various stats on nights when he left the game early for vague reasons. The NBA is looking into whether Porter knowingly left games to ensure those betting the under would get paid.

That's an incredibly serious allegation and would almost certainly result in a long suspension, if not outright dismissal from the league, if found to be true. Porter is currently not playing due to "personal reasons" presumably related to the investigation.