Raptors Haunted By Front Office Mistake in Loss to Jazz

The Toronto Raptors can only blame themselves for letting a chance at Walker Kessler slip through their fingers as they saw Wednesday in a loss to the Utah Jazz

Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Oh, what could have been?

It's easy to look back with hindsight and second guess some of the decisions the Toronto Raptors have made in recent years. Passing on Desmond Bane to select Malachi Flynn in the 2019 NBA Draft probably comes to mind first. But it wasn't all that difficult to first guess the Thad Young deal when Toronto sent its 2022 first-round pick and Goran Dragic to the San Antonio Spurs for Young and the pick that eventually became Christian Koloko. It felt a little unusual at the time.

Who would the Raptors have taken with the No. 20 pick had they kept the selection? The truth is, it may very well have been Koloko. As Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said before the draft, the organization didn't see much of a difference between the late lottery and early second round. But maybe Toronto would have gone in another direction, taking the center drafted just ahead of Koloko, Walker Kessler.

It might have changed the outcome of Wednesday's 131-128 loss to the Utah Jazz.

There's no doubt Toronto's front office deserves all the praise it's received in recent years for its string of savvy moves. Their draft record was almost perfect in the latter part of the 2010s and their trades have been near-flawless. But things haven't exactly gone smoothly to start this decade and the price is now being paid.

Kessler is exactly what Toronto needs right now. He's a 7-foot shoot-blocking behemoth who deters shots in the paint like few others in the league. It felt as though the Raptors couldn't even look at the restricted area for large swaths of Wednesday night as the 21-year-old rookie racked up a career-high seven blocks to go with his 17 points and 14 rebounds.

He almost single-handedly put the nail in Toronto's coffin, turning a three-point game into an eight-point Jazz lead late in the fourth with two straight buckets before a kick-out pass to Lauri Markkanen for three sealed Toronto's fate.

The Raptors kept it close for most of the night thanks to a 109 to 83 field-goal advantage and a season-high 25 offensive rebounds. How exactly did they get that many offensive boards? Well, Kessler and company contested Toronto's inside attack over and over again to the tune of 40 missed shots in the paint and 45% shooting from the field.

For much of the first half, the Raptors looked like a team that didn't even want to contend. The defense was miserable, failing to get back in transition, unable to defend the pick-and-roll, and giving up far too many open shots. Malik Beasley outscored Toronto from behind the arc in the first half on his own, nailing four three-pointers to just two for the Raptors.

Save for a pair of transition buckets from Chris Boucher, Toronto's offense got nothing going early. Kessler had six blocks in the first half alone, swatting away a pair of Scottie Barnes shot attempts on a single possession.

It wasn't until late in the second quarter that Toronto found any sort of rhythm. The starters checked back in and Fred VanVleet took control again, spurring the Raptors onto a 12-2 run before a Gary Trent Jr. side-step three-pointer pulled Toronto to within five just before the half.

VanVleet was brilliant all night, save for a strange eight-second violation that cost Toronto late in the third. He nailed a three-pointer and assisted on another for Trent to keep the Raptors around in the third, en route to a 34-point, 10-assist, and a career-high 12-rebound triple-double for the 28-year-old point guard.

Toronto pulled ahead early in the fourth off a pull-up mid-range jumper from Barnes as the Raptors tried to buy some time for VanVleet on the bench. When he did return, Toronto jumped ahead again on a three-pointer from Trent. But the Raptors could never quite run away with the lead.

Instead, perfect field goal shooting down the stretch from the Jazz kept Toronto at bay, dropping the Raptors seven games below .500.

Up Next: Houston Rockets

The Raptors will head to Houston on Friday for a date with Jalen Green and the Rockets at 8 p.m. ET.