Raptors Select Christian Koloko With 33rd Pick in NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors have selected Arizona's Christian Koloko with the 33rd pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors finally have a seven-footer.

After going all season without a true big man, filled a need Thursday night by selecting Arizona's seven-foot-one center Christian Koloko with the 33rd pick in the NBA Draft. It was a decision that's been a long time coming for the Raptors who have been scouting Koloko since he first popped up on the NBA radar as a talented Cameroonian prospect at the 2017 Basketball Without Borders event in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As a prospect, he's more of a traditional big man than anyone the Raptors had last season. After two middling years at Arizona, he developed into a dominant inside presence for the Wildcats as a junior, earning the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year award while averaging 2.8 blocks per game to go with 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds.

"Good shot-blocker, really good defensive numbers, ranks really highly in all of college basketball last year in a lot of categories," said Raptors coach Nick Nurse following the selection. "Pretty decent pick-and-roll player. And he’s got good feet. He’s a big that’s a rim-protecting shot-blocker, but I think he’s not without the ability to do some switching on the perimeter as well."

That defensive switchability is going to be the big question for Koloko in Toronto's complex system. Don't expect him to be an impact player right away, but with some development and time with the Raptors 905, there's certainly defensive potential, Nurse said.

"His feet look good [enough] that he should be able to do some switching. You’re probably not gonna want him in constant switching but you wanna know that if there’s an emergency or if there’s a certain time in the game, that something happens, he’ll be able to handle himself adequately," Nurse said. 

Ultimately, Koloko gives the Raptors the ability to change things up defensively when their small-ball lineups aren't working. Toronto was able to make due at times last year without a traditional big, but in certain matchups, it would have been helpful to have a true center on the roster who could at least eat some minutes against the league's supersized centers.

“I always like flexibility. If the things we’re doing we can’t do with our main guys for whatever reason, or a certain matchup calls for something else, then maybe this will give us the chance to do that," Nurse said. "If he protects the rim as well as I think he does, I think that always gives you a chance, if it’s possible, to be even more aggressive out on the wings, funnel things in and be even more in lanes and more handsy and more turnover-driven and not have to pay for it if you gamble and make some mistakes. Maybe you can have someone save some of those mistakes at the goal.”

No. 33 History

The No. 33 pick hasn't had very much success lately, but Jalen Brunson, Joe Harris, and Hassan Whiteside are among the most notable names taken with the pick.

Spurs Select Branham With Raptors 1st

The San Antonio Spurs used the No. 20 pick they'd acquired from Toronto in the Goran Dragic for Thad Young deal to select Malaki Branham, a 6-foot-5 wing out of Ohio State.

Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said the move didn't make too much of a difference for the organization. Koloko was among Toronto's top 20 to 25 players in the draft, he said.

OG Anunoby Stays Put

Despite the Portland Trail Blazers' supposed interest in OG Anunoby, the Raptors opted to keep the 24-year-old forward Thursday night. Unable to acquire the Raptors forward, Portland selected Canadian Shaedon Sharpe with the seventh pick in the draft.

"I have talks with these guys a lot about their roles, right, and had a really good positive season-ending kind of wrap-up with OG. We certainly talked about all those kinds of things. Listen, I think OG is really good," Nurse said on the topic of Anunoby's supposed discontent with the team. "I really like him. Like he is a tremendous person and a great two-way player. ... I think we all know what but guys like him are hard to find in this league."

Canadians Go Back to Back

Sharpe and Bennedict Mathurin became the first Canadian duo to be selected back-to-back in NBA Draft history. Mathurin, a Montreal native, went sixth overall to the Indiana Pacers, just before Portland took London, Ontario's Sharpe.

The two joined Andrew Wiggins and Nik Stauskas as the only Canadian duo to be selected in the top 10 of the same draft.

The Pacers then doubled down with another Canadian guard, adding Aurora's  Andrew Nembhard with the 31st pick. Moments later Caleb Houstan of Mississauga was selected 32nd by the Orlando Magic.

Adrian Griffin's Son Gets Drafted

Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin saw his son AJ selected 16th overall by the Atlanta Hawks.

Further Reading

Bobby Webster shoots down OG Anunoby trade rumors

Raptors considered favorites to land Rudy Gobert, Vegas says

Skipped combine raises draft questions about Michigan's Caleb Houstan, but upside is enough to interest Raptors