13. Toronto Raptors – Nick Smith Jr., G, Arkansas
The Toronto Raptors’ summer of big change is already here. The team elected to fire head coach Nick Nurse and that could just be the start of what could end up happening this offseason in Toronto. Nevertheless, heading into the NBA Draft, it’s safe to say that whoever the Raptors end up selecting with the 13th overall pick will likely end up being a big part of the next era of basketball in Toronto.
And with the way the board has fallen, there’s one player that the Raptors should absolutely scoop up – Nick Smith Jr. He’s too talented to fall out of the lottery and he’s a prospect that the Raptors could truly invest in considering the situations that await them regarding Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. this offseason.
Smith had a rough freshman season at Arkansas, but I don’t think there’s any debate that he’s not a top 5 talent in this year’s draft class. Whether he ends up reaching his ceiling or not is an entirely different question.
The talent is there and if there’s any franchise that could get the most out of him, it’s going to be the Raptors.