Taking yet another defensive-minded forward with the 19th pick of the NBA Draft might be the most interesting thing the Toronto Raptors do this offseason.That is probably not what Raptors fans want to hear, given that the team made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons this past year but is looking at an improving Eastern Conference. When the Raptors selected Allen Graves, a 6-foot-7 forward who comes with a reputation as a defensive disruptor but also questions about his offensive game — sound familiar? — that might have represented the biggest long-term swing the Raptors take in the next few weeks.For now, the salaries they owe their starters cause a cramped short-term financial picture and limits the Raptors’ offseason flexibility, unless they want to throw a bunch of draft capital away. In general, those players should get easier to move as their contracts get shorter. Therefore, doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on creating turnovers, defensive switchability and offensive unselfishness in a league that continues to prize the combination of size and shooting is fascinating — more so than anything they are likely to do in the next little while.“I think it’s always been (take the) best-available two-way players. You can go back to when we first started here (in 2013). That’s always been our philosophy,” Raptors general manager and executive vice-president Bobby Webster said on Tuesday night as the first round of the NBA Draft wound down. “I think sometimes you get into a little bit of a trap if you try to (pick) for fit in the first round, or too high in the draft. Ultimately, the NBA is super-competitive and things are always changing. The turnover on a team for us that happens year-to-year in the NBA is normal. You have opportunities to reposition the roster.”It’s not that those opportunities don’t exist this offseason; it’s just that they’re complicated, perhaps better exploited down the road. And that’s a bit frightening, given the Eastern Conference’s changing landscape.With the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, the Miami Heat have certainly raised their ceiling, with a bunch of moves yet to make. The Indiana Pacers will get Tyrese Haliburton back, which should put them inside the inner circle of contenders. The Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers will all be under pressure to get things pointed in the right direction. The New York Knicks had a nice little playoff run.That is to say nothing of teams such as the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards, teams at varying stages of their development that will try to be more competitive than last year.
Drafting Allen Graves might be the sexiest move of the Raptors’ summer — and that’s fine
With limited cap flexibility, a patient approach that doubles down on the Raptors' rough-and-tumble identity makes sense.












