2017 Draft

toralaksmana

Just a few years ago, the Indiana University basketball staff decided to take a chance on OG Anunoby. Attending an AAU event showcasing top-talent in Atlanta, the staff was drawn to a player whose name wasn’t even printed in the brochure for the event. After two years at Indiana, the Toronto Raptors were the ones choosing Anunoby with the 23rd overall pick in the NBA Draft. Much like Tom Crean’s coaching staff, Toronto’s front office is glad that other teams passed on the 19-year-old forward.

With the selection of Anunoby in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Raptors selected a 6-foot-8 forward with unlimited upside and potential, as well as a work ethic to speed along the process. Because Anunoby suffered a season-ending ACL tear in January of this year, he was unable to go through the normal pre-draft workouts, focusing his time on meetings with interested teams rather than getting to show off his skills. The Raptors organization and Anunoby both believe the injury resulted in him sliding down draft boards around the league, with Anunoby saying he believed he could have been a top five pick had he not been injured. Getting selected to the right team and situation is more important than where a player is drafted and prior to hearing his name on Thursday night, Anunoby said he felt good about the Raptors.

“I think it’s unbelievably critical that [Anunoby] connects with the front office and the people in the organization,” Chuck Martin, an assistant coach at Indiana during Anunoby’s two seasons there, said. “One of the biggest differences between college and the NBA, for the most part, there are some exceptions, but in college, the athlete chooses where he wants to go. We try to recruit him, we try to convince him, but ultimately he chooses where he wants to go. In the NBA, you’re chosen. You don't really have much of an option. If this team picks you, it’s kind of where you’re going to go. It’s always a great feeling knowing when that team choses you that you felt great about them prior to the selection, which he did.”

“When he came back from his visits he stopped by my house in Indiana and he was really excited about the meeting with the Raptors,” Martin continued. “He felt really good about those guys.”

When Anunoby heard his name called on draft night, he was calm, cool and collected, managing to keep his emotions in check. That measured reaction wasn’t dissimilar to his reaction after completing highlight-reel worthy plays on the court. After a thrilling block or a thunderous dunk, Anunoby can be seen sprinting back down the court on defence rather than taking time to celebrate the moment. 

“He’s from the “Show-me” state,” former Indiana associate head coach Tim Buckley said. “He would rather let his play do the talking than all the other stuff.”

Anunoby was born in London, U.K., and raised in the United States where he fell in love with basketball despite his father’s passion for soccer. He attended Jefferson City High School in Missouri where he averaged 19.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a senior. Despite this, he came to Indiana an under-the-radar college player, averaging 13.7 minutes per game in his freshman season, but made headlines in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 when he used his defence to help the Hoosiers upset the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round. That defence is the first thing that stands out about Anunoby at this point in his career. A 19-year-old who can guard positions 1-through-5 on the floor generally isn’t available with the 23rd pick. The season-ending ACL injury Anunoby sustained may have prevented him from finishing out his season in Indiana, but it didn’t keep him out of the gym.

“OG was in the middle of things,” Buckley said. “Coaching and talking, he really did it. Initially Coach [Crean] made him do it and then it just became a part of what he was doing. I think that will help his growth in that regard.

“In the locker room and amongst his teammates he was very well-connected to them. He was good at poking at them and really good at poking at himself as far as he can laugh at himself. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

How does a player who was left off an AAU tournament brochure become the 23rd pick in the NBA Draft just a few short years later?

Anunoby had an up-close example of what it takes to be a professional athlete. His older brother, Chigbo, played in the NFL, providing Anunoby an opportunity to see the work ethic needed to make it to the pros firsthand. After a quiet freshman year, Anunoby’s role was expanded in his sophomore season prior to injury. Playing 25.1 minutes per game, Anunoby averaged 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while recording at least one block or one steal in all 16 of his games played.

“When he first started here [at Indiana] it wasn’t necessarily going well for him [in his freshman season,] Martin said. “He wasn’t playing a lot. He had that moment where it was the second game in [the Maui Invitational] where he came out of his shell and he finally started to understand what it was going to take, not only for him to play, but for our team to win. From that point forward he really started to make strides. I think today guys don't get an opportunity to struggle through some things to help them have success. He was willing to stay disciplined and listen to his coaches and follow that process that he was on to become a quality player for us and obviously he became a quality player in college basketball.”

Though Anunoby has just started to scratch the surface of his abilities, he’s already learned to enjoy each first as it comes. This part of his personality — along with the sense of humour that shows up when he is comfortable with you — had both Buckley and Martin raving about coaching him.

“I think he’s refreshing,” Martin said. “And I mean this as a compliment; I think every time he does something amazing it’s for the first time. He’s never done it before so in so many ways he’s surprised that he did it so he just runs back. He’s not used to doing it and that’s refreshing because his upside and his potential is through the roof. He’s just a unique guy that way and he’s got the personality, as people get to know him a little bit better, to really gravitate towards him. He’s got a big smile. He’s really, really intelligent and he’s really, really funny.”

“I think that’s the irony of OG, and I think he likes it that way, the fact that some of that stuff is hidden and it takes time for you to peel back the layers,” Martin continued. “I think he kind of likes the fact that this is a relationship and it’s going to take time, but if you kind of hang in there with him, at the end of the day, it’s going to be a big prize.”

get-to-know-og-anunoby

Get To Know OG Anunoby

The Toronto Raptors selected Indiana University forward OG Anunoby (O G Ann-uh-no-bee) with the 23rd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Anunoby, 6-foot-8, 232 pounds, played two seasons at Indiana (2015-17), averaging 6.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 17.4 minutes. He totaled 48 steals and 47 blocks in 50 career games (10 starts). 

Anunoby averaged 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 25.1 minutes this past season. He recorded at least one block or one steal in all 16 of his games played. Anunoby set career highs of 21 points November 27 versus Mississippi Valley State and seven steals January 15 versus Rutgers. He sustained a season-ending injury to his right knee January 18 at Penn State. 

raptors-select-og-anunoby-in-the-2017-nba-draft

Raptors Select OG Anunoby in the 2017 NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors had a busy week in advance of the 2017 NBA Draft. With the draft taking place on Thursday, June 22, Toronto's front office spent the week before it holding a pre-draft workout as well as a two-day free agent minicamp. The workout was the ninth the team has held in preparation for this draft.

After more than a month of workouts for some of the draft prospects, the final week of workouts and travel can be especially gruelling. Dan Tolzman discussed how fatigue can affect workouts at this point in the process, as well as how it reveals the players that have properly trained for the process.

"They stand out," Tolzman said. "Especially as the workout goes on. We try to do a lot of the skip-based stuff early, before the fatigue sets in and it becomes more of a battle of nutrition by the end and you can see the guys who still have energy and still are pushing and they clearly trained for this moment and are doing well in it."

The workout part of draft preparation done for the time being, the front office will now spend much of its time debating player rankings as it compiles its draftboard for Thursday night. The two-day free agent minicamp that Toronto held on Thursday and Friday not only provided the team with an opportunity to check up on players they've tracked in the past, but also to provide additional context to some of the players they'd just worked out in pre-draft workouts.

"Even though the draft prospects might have a higher ceiling, longer road to becoming a better player, you kind of compare them side by side [with the guys in the free agent minicamp]," Tolzman said. "You can see how some of these guys might fit against some of the draft guys you're looking at and maybe it changes the way that you draft if you see something here that really interests you. You can bring a guy in via a different route."

With less than a week until the draft, getting the draft board in order becomes the priority. So much of what happens on draft night depends on how things unfold for the teams that are selecting before you. Being prepared for players to both rise and fall in the moment is a crucial part of preparation. Things can change in the blink of an eye and when you're on the clock, big decisions must be made quickly. The workouts, interviews and film studied over the past month will be largely what determines how that decision is made.

9 - Number of pre-draft workouts held by the Raptors in advance of the 2017 NBA Draft.

50 - Total number of players brought in by the Toronto Raptors in 2017 pre-draft workouts.

6 - Canadians who came in to workout: Naz Mitrou-Long, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Justin Jackson, MiKyle McIntosh, Dillon Brooks and Dylan Ennis.

2 - Fewest number of players appearing in a single workout. While most workouts featured six players working out in a 3-on-3 format, UCLA's T.J. Leaf and George Washington's Tyler Cavanaugh came in for a a two-player workout on May 18.

22 - guards who came through to workout and show off their respective skill-sets.

28 - number of forwards who were in to audition for the Raptors.

27 - seniors who came to workout. In a time where seniors often have to prove they have the same kind of upside as younger draftees, the Raptors organization continues to show interest in players who come into the pre-draft process with maturity and experience. In 2015 the Raptors selected Norman Powell and Delon Wright, both seniors. Following last year's draft where the team selected sophomore Jakob Poeltl with the ninth pick and sophomore Pascal Siakam with the 27th pick, the team also signed undrafted four-year senior point guard, Fred VanVleet.

5 - minutes will be on the clock when Toronto's selection begins.

23 - Toronto will be selecting 23rd in the draft.

raptors-pre-draft-workout-recap

Raptors Pre-Draft Workout Recap

With the 2017 NBA Draft just two weeks away, the Raptors front office has been busy. Searching for the player that the organization would like to select with the 23rd pick has kept both front office and coaching staff working as the team hosts workouts to try to get a closer look at the players that have intrigued them.

Wednesday’s workout wrapped up three straight days of pre-draft workouts this week. The third session featured Florida’s Kasey Hill, Cincinnati’s Troy Cauapin, Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes, Utah’s Kyle Kuzma, Marquette’s Luke Fischer, Jonathan Jeanne of France and UCLA’s Ike Anigbogu.

While Anigbogu and Jeanne are both players that have been featured in mock drafts near Toronto’s 23rd pick, the team has brought in a wide range of players in the eight workouts to take place in Toronto thus far. With a pick in the latter half of the first round, what the Raptors do could be dependent upon what other teams do and what happens ahead of them in the draft. Getting plenty of faces in to interview and workout is crucial when preparing for draft night.

Dan Tolzman said Wednesday’s workout was one of the most competitive the team has had yet. With the draft inching closer, the grind of the pre-draft process has often started to set in for some participants. When dealing with a player that has gone through many workouts, watching how he pushes himself through the actual workout can be the most important part of the session.

"As the date draws nearer, that means [players are] getting upwards of five to 15 workouts in, depending on the player, so fatigue is a big part of it at this point," Tolzman said. "We’ve got to just keep pushing them to give us their best and guys today, they did it."

Kuzma watched a lot of the Raptors this season, rooting on former Utah teammates Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl. The third-year forward said his pre-draft experience has been aided by his time at Utah, playing for coach Larry Krystkowiak.

"We’re coached well," Kuzma said. "Coach K and the rest of the staff at Utah do an excellent job at preparing us and getting us ready to play at this level. He played in the NBA and has NBA pedigree and even coached in the league too. He knows how to prepare us with terminology, just being in this workout, you see a lot of things, defensive coverages, and everything that the Raptors use, we used at Utah too."

Kuzma said he’s spoken with Wright and Poeltl about their pre-draft experiences and the duo have both told him to enjoy it.

"[They’re] great, great guys, that’s the number one thing," Kuzma said of his former teammates. "At Utah we had a very real bond and it didn't matter if you were Delon Wright or the lowest walk on. It didn't matter. Everybody was the same. They treated everybody like that too. Very humble guys. Guys that wanted to get better. They treated the game as professionals, as college players, so that’s why they’re here."

Tuesday’s workout was a six-player session, featuring JJ Frazier of Georgia, Quentin Hooker of North Dakota, Wesley Iwundu of Kansas State, Hassan Martin of Rhode Island, Devin Robinson of Florida and Paul Watson of Fresno State.

Monday’s session was also another six players in Toronto to workout: Duke’s Matt Jones, Gonzaga’s Jordan Matthews, Iowa State’s Matt Thomas, South Carolina’s P.J. Dozier, Chattanooga’s Justin Tuoyo and UNC’s Kennedy Meeks.

Meeks said what he gleaned form the workout from Toronto’s perspective was that the team emphasized attacking the rim and shooting the three. Despite the stress that can accompany the pre-draft process, Meeks enjoyed his stop in Toronto.

"This is definitely a great organization," Meeks said. "The coaching staff are tremendous and the players are kind and nice and you can tell that they play together for sure."

What stood out to Dozier was how the team actually facilitated the workout, opting to show as well as tell in a hands-on approach.

"They taught a little bit more," Dozier said. "Trying to get structure instead of just rolling the ball out there and saying play. I enjoyed that part. I really got to learn how they defend, how they rotate. It was fun.

"They don't get right into it," Dozier explained. "They break it down first. Teach you the positions, almost like shell, dummy drill, then they roll the ball out there, tell you to play, and if they see something out there that they don’t like they’ll stop and tell you a teaching point."

With the 23rd pick in the draft, the Raptors have the opportunity to take a chance on a player they like, or wait to see if someone that they had pegged higher is still available. These options means getting a lot of players in to workout. As the draft continues to creep closer, the action at BioSteel Centre continues as the team searches for the newest addition to the roster.

raptors-pre-draft-workout-week-3-recap

Raptors Pre-Draft Workout Week 3 Recap

News doesn’t slow for long weekends and basketball doesn’t stop during the offseason. After the Raptors held their first two pre-draft workouts last week, the team had another two this week, starting on the holiday Monday and finishing on Tuesday. Also happening: News that Raptors General Manager Jeff Weltman would be leaving for the Orlando Magic where he’ll become President of the Magic.

Following Tuesday’s workout, Raptors president Masai Ujiri spoke with the media about Weltman’s impact in Toronto as well as the close friendship the two have built over their years working together, calling the move to Orlando a "phenomenal opportunity for an unbelievable person" while acknowledging it will be strange getting used to decision making without the person who was always his first call and travel partner on scouting trips.

"I think he has paid his dues," Ujiri said. "An unbelievable person, a great basketball mind and the time has come. We all have to live with it. It’s sad sometimes but I think eventually it was going to happen somewhere, somehow."

In Monday’s six-player workout, the Raptors brought in Tyler Dorsey from Oregon, Canadian Dillon Brooks from Oregon, Kobi Simmons from Arizona, Semi Ojeleye from SMU, Markis McDuffie from Wichita State and Jonathan Williamsfrom Gonzaga to workout. While the workout was filled with interesting prospects, none were happier than Brooks to be in Toronto working out for the Raptors and getting to spend time with his dog, Zeus.

"Got to stay with my own family, got to sleep in my own bed," Brooks said. "It felt good. I had three workouts sleeping in a hotel.

I got to see my dog, it felt good coming out here, playing for the home team."

Though Brooks was working out alongside Oregon teammate Dorsey, being in Toronto was comforting because of the familiarity he has with the organization. As guys go through the workout circuit, there will be fellow draftees they continue to cross paths with and getting to also build that familiarity helps make the process a bit easier. For teammates going through the pre-draft experience together, it can mean having a sounding board to help smooth out the process.

"You get to talk a little trash a little bit," Brooks said. "After the workout you get to text teammates like Jordan [Bell]) and Dylan [Ennis], tell them you out-worked them and it’s all jokes and fun. Especially the camaraderie with the Oregon Ducks, we all want to be the best, we all want to go somewhere and we all look out for one another."

After discussing Brook’s teammate and fellow Canadian Dylan Ennis last week, Raptors director of player personnel Dan Tolzman was asked about Brooks’ game on Monday.

"Dillon is a guy, who you all know, brings so much passion to the table," Dan Tolzman said. "Whatever he doesn’t offer skill and talent wise he makes up for just with his winning plays and outplaying his opponents. I think he has shown he can score and defend and do all the things you look for energy-type guys and he brings that."

On Tuesday, the Raptors had another six-player workout. Kentucky’s Isaiah Briscoe, Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Maryland’s Justin Jackson, Illinois State’s Mikyle McIntosh, Baylor’s Jonathan Motley and Ole Miss’ Sebastian Saiz were in town to show what they could do in the morning workout session.

With the deadline for withdrawing from the draft process arriving on Wednesday, Maryland’s Jackson said he would be spending his Tuesday night weighing the pros and cons of staying in the draft versus returning to school. Though the situation may be stressful for some, Jackson said having options actually made the experience easier.

"I’d probably say it’s a bit easier because I have something to fall back on if things didn’t go well," Jackson said. "At the end of the day, I tried to go to every workout, go to the combine, give my 100 percent and hopefully that 100 percent will come back to me."

For those players that do end up withdrawing from the draft, getting to experience workouts and going through the interviewing process with teams is a huge benefit to help them be better prepared for when they do actually go through the experience.

"I think this first year of doing it, it helps guys prepare better next year," Tolzman said. "Even the [players] that got invited to the combine the first year, they get to go through all the interviews, they see what the drills are like, and then they can help prepare themselves with that in mind next year and put themselves in a much better comfort zone going through it next year."

As for having three Canadians in Tuesday’s workout and five overall having come through already, Tolzman said that’s a nod to the ever-expanding basketball culture in the country.

"Not doing it on purpose," he said. "It’s a sign of what basketball is becoming up here. It’s an indication that so many good NCAA players happen to be from the area and really it’s just a matter of it working out the way it did and a few of them, for whatever reasons, matchups, worked out well. It’s been pretty impressive, even the the last couple of years, the increasing numbers and I only see it getting more and more."

raptors-pre-draft-workout-day-3-4-recap

Raptors Pre-Draft Workout Day 3 & 4 Recap

With the 2016-17 season in the rearview, next up for the Toronto Raptors is the NBA draft. The team kicked off its first pre-draft workout session on Wednesday at BioSteel Centre. The team held a six-player workout, featuring Canadian Dylan Ennis from Oregon, Tyler Lydon from Syracuse, T.J. Williams from Northeastern, Rawle Alkins from Arizona, Jeremy Hollowell from Georgia State and Rashawn Thomas from Texas A&amp;M C.C. The Raptors held a second workout on Thursday, this time featuring just two players: Tyler Cavanaugh from George Washington and T.J. Leaf from UCLA. The Raptors will select 23rd in this year’s draft.

“This is always a good time to really learn who these guys are, not only as players but as people,” Raptors director of player personnel Dan Tolzman said of the pre-draft workout process. ”You get them up close and you really get to know them on a personal level and see them interact with coaches and other staff members.”

With Norman Powell, Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright on the team’s current roster, the Raptors are no stranger to drafting four-year players. Ennis, the older brother of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Tyler Ennis, is in a unique situation as a 25-year-old senior navigating the pre-draft process. He talked about how his experiences in college have helped to prepare him for the next level of basketball.

“There’s a lot of guys who go to college and go straight to the league, and they haven’t been through the things I’ve been through,” Ennis said. “I’ve came off the bench, I know how to deal with that. I’ve been a starter, I know how to deal with that. I know how to play off the ball, I know how to play on the ball. And I’m experienced. I know what the coach is gonna want, I’m an extension of the coach on the floor. So instead of being older, I’m more experienced than a lot of guys.”

Ennis broke into a large smile when he was told that he has been described as a coach in a player’s body.

“Yeah, I hear that a lot actually,” Ennis said. “I love it. Coaches love it. If the NBA coaches watch me and they believe that I’m an extension on the court, then that’s a positive. I’ve been around a lot of younger guys. I know Payton Pritchard, my point guard [at Oregon], is about seven years younger than me, and I’m able to mold those guys in college. Now I get to this level and obviously the older guys are gonna teach me a lot of things but they won’t have to teach me as much as the younger guys. So it’s definitely a positive for that.”

Though some teams will question the potential upside of seniors and four-year players, the Raptors have benefitted from the experience and maturity of the four-year players on their roster.

“We’ve had a lot of success drafting seniors and bringing guys in,” Dan Tolzman said. “They just have the right mentality in terms of working hard in developing. Older players in the draft, as long as they have that approach, they’ll get better just because the amount of time that they can now put into the game and the level of coaches they have around working them.”

Owning the 23rd pick means looking at a wide range of potential draft targets. One thing that appeals to Toronto’s front office is a player who can come in and shoot the ball.

“It’s really important in today’s NBA that all five positions can offer some sort of stretchability in terms of shooting the ball and I think the more spacing you can create on the floor, the easier it makes the other job for everyone else,” Tolzman said. “So, you know, we do a lot of our workout tailored around our regular sets and the regular way that we play and how [players] shoot the ball and decision make and pass the ball within that workout program, it helps kind of get a feeling for what these guys can do for us.”

Syracuse’s Lydon, a 6-foot-9 forward, feels he would fit in with the Raptors because of his ability to shoot ball.

“It’s definitely an area I feel like I can go in and help a team out with,” Lydon said. “Shooting the ball, spacing the floor out, making it easy for other guys.”

Lydon said he can play multiple positions, giving whatever coaching staff he’s playing for multiple options of how to use him. As for the workout, he was pleased with the effort and results.

“I think I went out and I thought I played pretty well,” he said. “I think I can handle the ball a lot better than people think. I know that coming from Syracuse, a lot of people question my defence, so that’s something I know right off the bat I’ve gotta work on and get better at. And my strength, and everything. But I feel like I can come in and make an impact.”

Leaf, like Lydon, is a player that is intriguing for Toronto because of his shooting stroke. At 6-foot-10, Leaf played just one season in college, but shot 47 percent from three and 62 percent from the floor. Leaf’s father, Brad Leaf, played professionally in Israel before returning to the U.S where he also served as coach of T.J.’s high school team. The benefits of growing up in a basketball household were easy to see in Thursday’s workout.

“You can tell just, he plays the right way,” Tolzman said. “Not only in this setting, but scouting him so much, when it’s decision-making, team-oriented basketball, he’s elite at that. Always seems to make the right passes, finds himself in the right spot for opportune rebounds and that sort of things. I think a lot of that comes from being around the game from such a young age and having the fundamentals ingrained in him in terms of how to be an effective player when you don't have the ball in your hands. He’s a classic example of doesn’t need to be dominating the ball to have an impact in the game.”

Thursday’s workout was Leaf’s third. He said it was the hardest of the three he’s gone through so far and that he was enjoying his first time in Toronto. Leaf talked about the importance of pushing through when the workout gets hard.

“Every team I go to knows what I can do,” he said. “They’ve watched my games, they’ve done their homework. Nothing is going to surprise them or what not. They just want to get me in, get a feel for me. A lot of that, I just think, is how hard you work. Everyone is going to miss shots here and there, but they just want to see how hard you’re working and if you’re going to push through it.”

Every NBA franchise is looking for the player that everyone else is slipping on. Owning picks in the latter half of the first round in the previous two seasons — in addition to ninth overall pick Jakob Poeltl in 2015 —  means the Raptors front office is used to this process.

“It’s one of those things where it’s a good thing because [owning the 23rd pick means] the main team is doing well and it’s just on us to dig a little deeper and find guys who might slip through the cracks as far as the lottery,” Tolzman said. “But, I wouldn’t say it’s easier [drafting 23rd] because the pickings are slimmer. The pressure is a little bit less on hitting home runs in this range but at the same time there’s always, every year, there’s always players from 20-60 who always make an impact in the NBA and they end up being really good players and it’s up to us to find those guys.”

One thing Toronto’s front office isn’t concerned with is outside projections.

“I think we kind of just go for players that we like as a staff,” Tolzman said. “All the mock drafts online and the consensus lists that you see out there, we kind of don't listen to those at all and if a guy we really like, we have in the 20s and everyone else might think he’s in the 50s we’re going to take him in the 20s regardless of where we should take him.

“That’s the way we approach it and it doesn’t really matter if it’s [pick] 23 or 43,” he said. “It’s our one pick and we try to make the best one we can.”