Key Offseason Dates for Raptors: Lottery Time, Draft Date, & More

The Toronto Raptors will be glued to the NBA Draft Lottery this Mother's Day as the organization heads into a stressful offseason with some key dates to know

Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA has taken over Mother's Day.

For the Toronto Raptors, it’s particularly unfortunate. That May 12 evening has a chance to be franchise-altering for the organization with the NBA Draft Lottery scheduled to be at 8:30 p.m. ET on Mother’s Day. It’ll be a drawn-out stressful affair for the organization and its fans smackdab in the middle of what otherwise would have been Mother’s Day night.

It'll be the biggest night of the offseason for Toronto who has a 45.8% chance to keep its first-round pick this year.

The Raptors have a 37.2% chance to land a top-four pick and an 8.6% chance to land the No. 6 pick. Otherwise, Toronto’s first-round pick will head to San Antonio as compensation for the Jakob Poeltl trade in 2023.

The NBA Draft Combine will begin May 12 and run through May 19 in Chicago and prospects with college eligibility remaining will have until June 16 to withdraw from the draft class.

The first round of the NBA Draft will begin at 8 p.m. ET on June 26 with the second round scheduled for the following day at the same time.

Toronto will have to make a decision on Bruce Brown Jr.’s team option by June 28 at the latest. He’s scheduled to earn $23 million next season if his option isn’t declined.

The free agency negotiation period will begin at 6 p.m. ET on June 30 and free agency will officially start on June 6 when teams will be permitted to begin signing free agent contracts.

NBA Summer League will run from July 12 through the 22.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame will induct the 2024 class on Oct. 12 and 13 with celebrations taking place in Springfield, MA. Former Raptors legend Vince Carter will be among those inducted.