The Toronto Raptors continued their model of drafting unique, overlooked, versatile forwards on Tuesday night when they selected Allen Graves out of Santa Clara at No. 19.
I’ll start things off by saying I like this pick. Graves is a very good prospect, an analytical darling, and can bring a ton of value to a Raptors team that is likely to lose Sandro Mamukelashvili when free agency opens. The issue with Bobby Webster and Toronto’s front office selecting Graves at No. 19 is the players that were still on the board.
The two names that stand out as players the Raptors shouldn’t have even hesitated to call the league office and draft are Baylor’s Cameron Carr and Alabama’s Labaron Philon. I can kind of understand passing on Carr, as prior to this season, he was a very under-the-radar prospect, but passing on Philon is not something fans should get over.
For years now, the Raptors have always been a team that sees players fall into their lap, and because of the front office's unwillingness to draft the “sexy pick,” they miss out on those guys. Most recently, it was drafting Malachi Flynn over Desmond Bane in 2020, while Graves doesn’t project to have a Flynn-type career arc, passing on Philon for him may be just as bad.
The Raptors passed on a future star at No. 19
This past season, Philon averaged 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game on 50.1 percent from the floor and shot the three-ball at a 39.9 percent clip. He was the engine to one of the SEC’s biggest offensive powerhouses as they built their entire offense around giving Philon the ball and letting him create something.
Whether it was being a maestro in the pick-and-roll, his incredibly tight handle, slithery finishing ability, or high-level shot creation and shot making, he has all the tools of a lead guard.
Now obviously, some fans are going to say he wouldn’t get to be that player with the Raptors, as they already have Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead in the backcourt. That's a fair point. However, in his freshman season, he was primarily off the ball and thrived as a three-and-D guard, a role he could easily play for Toronto.
Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram need floor spacers and creators around them, and IQ offers that when he’s on the court, but he also has a scary injury past that has limited Toronto’s ceiling. Drafting Philon would have added depth to an area of need, as opposed to drafting another forward with similar skills to the ones already on the roster. He also could have given a clean long-term out to the Quickley contract as a point guard with tremendous long-term upside.
I understand Graves projects more cleanly as a role player than Philon, but that didn't stop the 76ers who have a crowded backcourt as is from selecting Philon at No. 22. That’s the part that makes passing on Philon so much worse, as for the foreseeable future, the Raptors will be seeing him four times a season with Philly.
Toronto has already had enough problems dealing with Joel Embiid, and now Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecomb, and they just gifted a division rival a demon in Philon.
While the Allen Graves pick may work out for Toronto and give them the exact type of prospect they typically covet, passing on Philon isn’t going to age well. The Raptors follow a model when drafting, and I can’t fault them for that, but sometimes you need to just take the best player available, and in this case, that guy was Labaron Philon.
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