The Toronto Raptors are expected to take G League Ignite forward Tyler Smith with the 19th pick in the NBA draft
The Toronto Raptors should be in no rush to start winning games next season. There’s no need to draft some ready-to-play prospect with the No. 19 pick and hope for immediate impact. It might even be helpful to take the opposite approach and go after a developmental prospect with the kind of upside that could really impact the organization one day.
“His one season with the G League Ignite was up and down from a scouting perspective with how lopsided the games were against the Ignite, but Smith posed a pick-and-pop threat from behind the arc and improved his decision-making and shot selection coming off the bench,”Smith averaged 13.7 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 36% from behind the arc this past season. His shooting stroke looks smooth and there’s no reason to believe his shooting numbers won’t translate to the NBA level.
Defensively, Smith will have to put on some muscle to defend against NBA bigs, but he should be able to slide down the positional spectrum relatively well. His defensive know-how needs to be refined quite a bit and that’ll likely require some extended developmental reps in the G League.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Raptors Take Former No. 1 Prospect in Latest NBA Mock DraftThe Toronto Raptors are tabbed to take Ron Holland and Tyler Kolek in the latest NBA Mock Draft from CBS
Read more »
Raptors Add Much Needed Size in Latest Mock DraftThe Toronto Raptors are expected to take Matas Buzelis and Zach Edey in the latest 2024 NBA mock draft
Read more »
Mock Draft: Raptors Take Brother of OKC Star At No. 6The Toronto Raptors are projected to take Colorado's Cody Williams with the No. 6 pick in the NBA draft this year
Read more »
Mock Draft: Raptors Add Duke's Developmental Big At No. 19The Toronto Raptors could target Duke's Kyle Filipowski with the No. 19 pick in the NBA draft to add a young developmental center to the
Read more »
Mock Draft: Raptors Take Baylor's Freshman Big in 1st RoundThe Toronto Raptors are expected to take Baylor's freshman center Yves Missi with the No. 19 pick in the NBA draft
Read more »
2024 MLB draft rankings 2.0: Top prospects, mini-mock draft 2024 MLB draft rankings 2.0: Top prospects, mini-mock draftA group of powerful college hitters is surging up draft boards. Here's who your team could be targeting this summer.
Read more »