How top prospects would impact Toronto Raptors with NBA lottery a week away

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We’re a week away from having a much better idea of how close the Toronto Raptors are to getting back on track.

The Raptors aimed to accelerate the franchise’s rebuild by trading by former all-star Brandon Ingram in February, but could get a far bigger boost next Monday if the ping-pong balls bounce their way at the NBA’s annual draft lottery.

Toronto has the seventh-best odds (7.5%) of drawing the first pick and a nearly 1-in-3 shot at jumping into the Top 4 (31.9%).

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is seen as the sure-fire top pick. The consensus is that Flagg is a generational talent, an ultra-competitive defensive monster who can do a little bit of everything offensively and is rapidly improving as a shooter.

Anybody who draws comparisons to the likes of Jayson Tatum, Kevin Garnett, Scottie Pippen and Kawhi Leonard, amongst others, seems like a pretty good bet. Add Flagg to the Raptors and the team is instantly back in the mix in the Eastern Conference with legitimate title aspirations once he and Scottie Barnes have a few years together.

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Toronto would be massive, with Ingram shifting to shooting guard, Flagg at small forward, Barnes at power forward and Jakob Poeltl at centre.

This would not be an easy group to score against and, while they would have issues shooting the ball, they’d find a way to score in other ways, with Ingram and Immanuel Quickley playing off the others and getting lots of open looks.

If not Flagg, moving up to No. 2 for a shot at Rutgers guard Dylan Harper would also be a huge win. Harper has compared himself to Cade Cunningham, one of the NBA’s new-wave superstars and the top pick in 2021. They are both 6-foot-6 scoring guards who can also run an offence.

Harper is seen as a better athlete and finisher than Cunningham, who just broke out for the surprising Detroit Pistons. Toronto desperately needs help offensively and most would agree Harper is the best offensive player in this draft.

Selecting third or fourth also obviously would be preferred than waiting until seven or later (Toronto actually has 34.1% odds of falling to eight and 12.9% of picking ninth), but the prospects expected to be in range there (Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe, Texas guard Tre Johnson and others) aren’t regarded as can’t-miss, instant-impact additions the way Flagg and Harper are.

If the Raptors stay put or fall a pick or two, they probably aren’t getting an immediate needle-mover and will be choosing between a big group of prospects who would each fill different needs.

At some point, there needs to be a succession plan for Poeltl, who turns 30 before next season starts and can opt out in a year if an extension is not reached.

Even if Poeltl will be around for the long-term, Toronto badly needs another centre and Duke’s Kaman Maluach and Maryland’s Derik Queen both fit the bill. The team currently is loaded on the wing, but could always use more shooting (like Johnson, Duke’s Kon Knueppel, Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis or Michigan State’s Jase Richardson).

Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears might be the answer as well, since he’s widely seen as the most likely bet in the draft besides Harper to be a high-scoring lead guard with star potential.

Fears and Richardson are two of the younger prospects expected to go in the lottery (Flagg is the youngest) and both raised their stock late in the season with impressive finishes, which always intrigues evaluators trying to project what these players will be able to do down the line.

The draft takes place on June 25 and 26, and Toronto also has the 39th pick on Day 2. Next Monday will determine how long the wait will be on Day 1 until NBA commissioner Adam Silver announces who the newest Raptor will be.

@WolstatSun