Raptors Executive Explains Toronto's Process Ahead of 31st Pick

The Toronto Raptors plan to come in early Thursday morning and start fresh as they look to open the second round of the NBA draft with the 31st pick

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks before the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors can exhale.

Last night was a whirlwind. There'd been plenty of excitement surrounding the No. 19 pick Ja'Kobe Walter and trade talks toward the back end of the first round before the typical draft arguments broke out late into the night.

It's one thing to have a draft board with the players pegged in order of where they should go, but it's another to actually stick to it when the moment arrives.

For Toronto, there's some time now. The organization will be the first ones on the clock when the second round of the draft begins at 4 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon and the hope is 16 or so hours to dwell on who should go next has given the Raptors some clarity.

"I'm gonna try not to think about it until probably I wake up and then try and come in here fresh tomorrow and not have sort of the preconceived notion of what we thought, you know, who's supposed to be on our board right now," Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said just before midnight Wednesday following the first round of the NBA draft.

There are certainly a few surprising names still available.

Duke's center Kyle Filipowski and Kansas sharpshooter Johnny Furphy were widely expected to be first-round picks and were connected to Toronto at No. 19 in some mock drafts. Tyler Smith out of the G League Ignite makes sense for the Raptors as another sharpshooting 6-foot-9 wing and veteran point guard Tyler Kolek would fill the Raptors' need for a backup point guard.

"We’ll probably have some pretty big fights tomorrow in the morning about who we would take and then simultaneously take these calls and say, OK, could we get multiple picks? Could we move back a little bit and still get the same guy?" Webster said.

Toronto had been expecting trade calls Wednesday night into Thursday morning and the sense is there will be plenty. Bronny James still being on the board adds an interesting wrinkle to the second round as he'll be a name to keep an eye on Thursday afternoon.

Another 28 players will hear their names called in Round 2 before Toronto will dive deep into the undrafted player pool with two two-way spots still to be filled. The extra time should give the Raptors a little more clarity when that time does roll around at a more reasonable time on Thursday night.

"I think everybody's happy that we're not up till three AM," Webster said before scurrying back into the draft room at the OVO Athletic Centre