Julian Champagnie Had Positive Feedback From the Raptors as He Tries to Follow in His Brother's Footsteps

The Toronto Raptors worked out Julian Champagnie who said things went well as he tries to follow in Justin's footsteps and join the NBA next season

Aaron Rose | Jun 9, 2022

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

It's been three years since Julian Champagnie last stepped out onto a basketball court as anything other than the focal point of the opposing defense.

Back then, Champagnie — the twin brother of Raptors forward Justin Champagnie — was a virtually unknown freshman at St. John's University who filled a role while the Red Storm's top scorers did the bulk of the heavy lifting. Things were easier back then for the 6-foot-6 Champagnie who could camp out in the corners and make savvy cuts to the basket when his defender forgot about him.

Today, the Toronto Raptors are trying to see if Champagnie can get back to being that kind of role player. After two years as the primary option for St. John's, Champagnie knows if he's going to succeed at the next level, it's going to come as a role player, doing the little things at a high level.

Toronto's workouts these days are very different from the kind the Raptors held last year as they prepared to select fourth overall. Back then, it was one-on-zero workouts, trying to gauge roughly how skilled the draft's top players really are. This time around, with the No. 33 pick, Toronto is doing a lot more team-oriented drills, trying to see how these mid-tier and lower-rated prospects can play in a group setting.

"Are they going to make the correct passes and defensive reads and do what's right for the team because a lot of times, you know, so many of these players in college or wherever they're coming from, they're usually the main player on their team. If they're good enough for the NBA, they're probably like go-to players and so how many of those guys can shift their mentality and be a complementary player at this level," said Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman. "It's a little bit harder I think than a lot of people get credit for like making that shift."

So far, through six workouts, Champagnie said his feedback has been positive. He prides himself on being a skilled shooter and someone who can space the floor on offense. While he doesn't offer the same kind of tough-nose rebounding skills that his brother brought to the Raptors last season, Toronto could certainly use some more fineness on its roster next year and Champagnie thinks he has that.

"That’s my specialty, shooting the basketball, spacing the floor. As long as I continue to do that and play hard, I think I’ll fall right," he said following Wednesday morning's workout alongside his brother who has spent much of the summer in Toronto working out with the Raptors.

Even with the competition getting tougher at the next level, Champagnie has been told his offense should come a little easier next season in the NBA.

"I won’t be the focal point of the defense," said Champagnie who shot 41.4% from the floor and 33.7% from behind the arc as a high-volume three-point shooter as a junior last season. "You have guys like Fred (and) Pascal that are here, those are the guys for this team, the essential guys, and you just sit in the corner, space out, they’ll get you your shots,"

It's been helpful having a brother who filled that role so seamlessly for the Raptors and Raptors 905 last season, Champagnie said. Even though Justin didn't play very much at the NBA level last year, his style of play and willingness to fill a necessary role certainly piqued Toronto's interest and should have him back on the roster next season with the Raptors.

"I have a lot of respect for him, going through it," Champagnie said of his brother Justin. "He did have some really high moments and some really low ones when he wasn’t playing. Knowing how he struggled it was tough, but seeing him persevere and go hard and eventually find his role and find his way, it was nice to watch."

So is Toronto going to make the dream come true and bring the two brothers together? Probably not. Even though Champagnie is projected to go in the second round, the chances of it happening remain remarkably low.

"It would be cool. We haven’t played in a while," Champagnie said. "So it’d probably be a little difficult at first. I think we’ve grown apart as people and as players."

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