Draft Prospects Achiuwa, Jones Fit Raptors Mold

Raptors draft history suggests Memphis' Precious Achiuwa and Duke's Tre Jones make sense as defensively minded draft prospects

If you can't play defence, you can't be on the court for the Toronto Raptors.

It's the message Raptors' centre Marc Gasol told the media on August 5 following the Raptors' smothering 109-99 victory over the Orlando Magic.

That's what has made the Raptors so special for the past two seasons. Up and down the roster, from Kyle Lowry to Fred VanVleet, to their versatile wings, and defensively stout centres, the Raptors have no defensive weaknesses. Essentially, the Raptors have a type, and usually, that starts with defence.

Looking ahead to the 2020 NBA Draft, two prospects, Memphis' Precious Achiuwa and Duke's Tre Jones fit Toronto's archetype even if the Raptors are yet to interview either of them.

Achiuwa, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound wing with a 7-foot-2.25 wingspan, is the mirror image of Pascal Siakam, Toronto's 6-foot-9, 230-pound wing with a 7-foot-3 wingspan. He projects as a versatile, forward who can step up and play a small-ball centre at times.

"Achiuwa certainly looks the part in terms of tools and athletic ability, and while there are doubts about his overall feel, teams are enticed by his productivity, and there’s a pretty good chance he ends up in the lottery," Sports Illustrated's draft expert Jeremy Woo wrote. "He’s not a natural perimeter player, but the simple solution seems to be playing him in a lower-leverage role at center, at least to start, and asking him to run the floor, rebound, and cover the middle defensively. Achiuwa has always been a little too interested in moonlighting as a wing, but if he’s willing to buy in as a full-time big, it’s much easier to see him succeeding long-term. He’ll have to work hard on his jumper, but there’s a chance he shoots it effectively, which would add some versatility. Achiuwa is still mistake-prone on both ends, and he turns 21 this week. But with the NBA trending smaller, it isn’t hard to see him fitting in as a useful rotation player in the right situation."

The 21-year-old averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in his freshman season with Memphis.

The Raptors have yet to interview with Achiuwa, potentially because he's expected to go much higher in the draft than their 29th pick, but if Achiuwa were to slip he certainly fits the Raptors mold. He's already friends with OG Anunoby and Siakam, he said, making the fit even easier if Toronto selected the Nigerian native.

On the other side of the court, Duke's 6-foot-3 guard Jones looks like a typical Raptors player thanks to his defence-first mentality.

"Tre Jones was one of college basketball’s best on-ball defenders. His performances against elite point guards were master classes," Sports Illustrated's Duke reporter Shawn Krest said.

The 20-year-old, younger brother of Memphis' Tyus Jones, said he's always been a player who focuses on the defensive end as a way of contributing to his teams. Lately, he's been working on his game by watching film of the Raptors' backcourt.

"Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry are definitely two guys I watch a lot of film on," Jones said. "Obviously they do a lot of things well. To be as successful as they've been and win a championship in the league already and so, Lowry gets after it, he's a bulldog on the defensive end, he's definitely someone I watch, but I mean VanVleet is the same way, different aspects of his game, but there are definitely areas of both their games that I watch and try to pick little parts out and try to emulate them."

Jones, who ranks as the 39th player on Woo's draft board, is more of a high floor, low ceiling prospect.

"Jones had an excellent sophomore season at Duke and has a chance to make it as a potential NBA backup, bringing strong intangibles and excellent hands and anticipation on defense," Woo wrote. "He’s deceptively quick, distributes the ball well and plays extremely hard, but scouts are still somewhat split over what his upside actually is. Jones has improved his three-point shooting, which has been his biggest question mark over the past two years, but he’s still not dynamic pulling up off the dribble and will need to become more of a threat to maximize his ability. It’s also possible his lack of size may limit his versatility and effectiveness as a defender to an extent. It’s easy to see him having a real career, but the upside here isn’t immense."

The Raptors have yet to interview Jones, but with so much time before the draft, that could change in the coming weeks.