We are just two nights away from night one of the 2025 NBA Draft.
As we all know, the Toronto Raptors are set to make their selection at ninth overall (and the 39th pick during Thursday's second-round), that is unless they are able to find a desirable trade to either move down or up in the draft lottery order.
Those talks have largely been circulating across the rumor mill in recent weeks. In fact, a recent joint effort between NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein on Stein's Substack revealed the following:
"Toronto continues to signal that it's open to moving down from No. 9 in Wednesday's first-round order, sources say, while the Raptors have also made calls to determine what it would take to obtain a second lottery pick. What seems clear: The Raptors have convinced many rival teams that they want to be in position, no matter what, to be able to draft another center."Jake Fischer & Marc Stein, June 21, 2025
It seemed clear that even before the draft lottery results, the idea of adding international prospect and Duke center Khaman Maluach to Toronto generated a lot of intrigue.
Raptors want to add a center regardless of draft position
To support the Raptors' pursuit of a center, whether that's Maluach or another option, assistant GM Dan Tolzman participated in a media scrum earlier today, where he addressed additional questions about Toronto's draft strategy.
One of Tolzman's quotes during the press conference was as follows, referring to what Toronto is looking for a potential center addition:
"The most important thing is our style of play. The way we like to play out, we see it with Jakob [Poeltl], letting him be an operator in the high post, and what he does on defense as well."Dan Tolzman, June 23, 2025
Having a talented starter like Jakob Poeltl is definitely a plus, and given his exclusion from the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, the 29-year-old vet will likely remain in Toronto for the foreseeable future. But for all the strengths Poeltl brings to Toronto, it definitely showed last season that the team could use a noticeable boost in center depth. When Poeltl went down due to injury or sat out games, his absence was profoundly felt.
And given Tolzman's insights into what Toronto prioritizes in their likely draft candidate, knowledgeable Raptors reporter Es Baraheni would note which three prospects are essentially the perfect fits to that desired archetype:
The players that most accurately fit this description are Queen, CMB and Sorber. https://t.co/GybO9lY4tb
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) June 23, 2025
For me, I'll still stand by my thought that Maluach is Toronto's ultimate pick if the tide shifts in their favor. However, I think I’ve made my case pretty clear that I’m quite high on what Carter Bryant could bring to Toronto, and I’ve sort of been turned off at the thought of Collin Murray-Boyles or Derik Queen. To each their own, of course.
Thomas Sorber is yet another interesting thought for the Raptors' pick, although, he is teetering around different spots according to mock drafts; if Sorber is Toronto's guy, it'll likely be because they were successful in moving down.
But if Toronto is still targeting a center with their pick, whether they remain at nine or not, I think it’s a more than justifiable area of concern to focus on. It shows Toronto is aware of where they fell short and wants to patch those holes quickly; why not use the draft to your maximum advantage? Especially considering the Raptors are in a bit of a pickle when it comes to their financial limitations.