Transcription
On your Friday episode of Locked on Raptors, the NBA draft is now less than a week away. Do we know everything or do we know nothing? Let's figure it out.
You are Locked on Raptors.
[music]
Your daily Toronto Raptors podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day.
Hello and welcome to Locked on Raptors. Coming to you on YouTube app, Spotify, and the Locked on Podcast feed. Now now the number one sports podcast network out there. It's Friday, June 18th, and I'm your filling host, Zulfi Sheikh. Usually your humble host of the Raptors Post Cast, subbing in for Sean Woodley as he takes some much-needed time off. And with me is none other than Es Baraheni, the man, the myth, the legend from Raptors Republic and the NBA Athletic Daily. But I choose to think of him as Rick from Sunlife and the guy from the Goat Train commercials for the World Cup. Es, how are you, my guy?
Goat Train commercials for the World Cup. Uh yeah, it's it's going to be funny. I can't wait until like someone draws like a mustache on my face or something like that, you know, that'll be cool. I appreciate you having me on. Thank you very much. Sean doesn't need a break, you know? You said Sean deserves a has a much-needed break. I don't think he needs a break. I think he he needs to work more. That's what I think.
Sean, get back here then. You know, Es said it. I'm kidding.
[laughter]
Zulfi, it's it's good to hang out, man. How how's everything going with you?
I'm good, brother. I'm excited to talk some draft stuff cuz full disclosure, I don't usually dip my toes in very far when it comes to draft stuff. I've kind of resigned myself to the idea that especially at 19, it's half kind of who falls to you, it's half best player available, and based on what board you have. So I kind of just try to like put the pieces together after the fact. I've tried to be like more draft initiated in years past, and again, it just feels like a bit of a crap shoot to me. So I'm excited to have you on cuz you've been more into the weeds with it. And uh to everyone listening, again, thank you for joining us.
Very. What is What is the difference between into the weeds? I would say like I am like hovering above the weeds looking into them trying to parse through and figure out like if there's a diamond in there. I'm not in there. I'm not in the weeds. I can't I can't I can't.
Yeah.
Look, it's I'm I'm very similar to you in the sense that like I the draft is not my full-time coverage. There are people who do it year-long.
Yeah.
So, I jump in at the very end and I talk to people, I interview folks, I get information about prospects. And the thing about my process is that I end up unfortunately loving everybody. I'm just like, "This guy rocks. This guy is sick." And so, you won't see me necessarily talk badly about most prospects. I think most of them, especially at the Raptors range in 19, is pretty good.
Pretty pretty good. Yeah.
It's funny you say that cuz literally listening to your work, what Samson does, and all the people you talked to, that is almost entirely my like conclusion is that wow, there's a lot of guys I could talk myself into.
Yeah.
Based on where the Raptors are at and like all the different needs. But I'm glad that you see it that way then because my what my my goal here was to kind of just like do a temperature check on where the Raptors are at, just get the vibes of it all. And one of the things I wanted to touch on with you was the fact that Raptors assistant GM Dan Tolzman did speak. He had his pre-draft presser. And now the Raptors usually tend to keep things close to the vest, but I believe you were there or at least you were able to cover degree. I know you wrote about it for Raptors Republic. But like I guess what, if anything for you coming out of that conversation with Dan Tolzman, did you get out of it? Or like where's your head at coming out of that conversation?
Um I think they are very comfortable with their options at pick 19. You know, I I asked him about trading up versus trading down and it seems like it would cost quite a bit to try and move up in this draft just because of how talented the draft is. Um now, who knows? Maybe that ends up changing. Uh I don't think they're looking to trade down. I think they like their options at number 19. And truthfully, depending on how, you know, I agree with you that like, it depends on how the board shakes out, but there are a couple different pathways that could let lead to either there being a lot of guards available at 19 or a lot of bigs available at 19. And truthfully, those are the two positions that the Raptors need the most. And so, it's just they're in a good position. At pick 19, they kind of uh they kind of it's right before the draft, quote-unquote, drops off. Uh, so they kind of have their pick of the litter of one of these guys that ends up falling to them, which I think would be uh it's a good option, good good area to be in in the draft.
Yeah, I think your colleague over at The Athletic, Sam Vecenie, who's obviously a draft expert, he said basically after 20 is where he kind of sees the drop-off in talent, and that's why there are some teams that are looking to trade up. Uh, I'm glad you addressed that. I was going to ask you about that later about the Raptors potentially trading up or down, so that's good to know. Uh, but something that uh Dan Tolzman said that kind of perked up ears for people is when he mentioned the idea of maybe looking at a vertical spacing lob threat lob threat type of big. When you hear that, you usually think 7-footer, especially for the Raptors. Now, he did say that maybe that's in free agency and not necessarily the draft. When you do hear that, considering how the Raptors usually don't give you anything in these conversations, was that something, everything, or nothing to you?
Ooh, a little something, nothing, everything.
[laughter]
Let's go. Um, I I think it's something. It's absolutely something. It's an acknowledgement from the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel saying, "Hey, there is this specific thing that we need on this team, and whether we get it through the draft, whether we get it through the free agency, or whether we try to address it via trade, it's something that we need on this roster that we don't currently have." Uh, you know, I I guess the only time Scotty has really played with guys like that is like Precious Achiuwa and Christian Koloko. Like those are really the only two like lob threat athletes types and those two guys were were flawed in their own ways. Like Koloko was still trying to figure out what a pick and roll even meant at the NBA level, you know? And then Precious, you know, didn't necessarily have the hands at that point in his career. He's clearly a much better player now for Sacramento, but generally they haven't had a player like that. They haven't had an archetype to fill next to Scotty and to CMB. And I think, you know, you're always looking for that unicorn type of player, but the Raptors truly, if they want to compete next to Scotty and CMB, they need to find their version of that unicorn. So it's you know, and there's not that many of them. Like it's it's like the Chet Holmgrens, the Kristaps Porzingises, the Myles Turners of the world and Victor Wembanyama. You know, there's like five of those dudes in the NBA and and finding that right guy, finding a guy who can thread that needle, I think it's a lot harder to do so in the draft versus in in free agency or via trade, kind of like more established products. In terms of players that can do that in this draft, Mouhamed Johnson seems to be a guy who has the potential to do that. You know, the shooting is sort of kind of like theoretical at this point.
Yeah, low volume.
Low volume, but people think that he can eventually space the floor at a consistent level. If you think about like Henry Veesar or Veesar, he's a guy who is very clearly a stretch big, but has some physicality to him and he's also large. He's like 6'11. Maybe he can do that. Hans Steinbach, although Steinbach is not like the athlete that that I think they're talking about. He's more of like a below the rim guy and and so I just I don't know. I I think those are those are the guys that kind of pop out. A lot of people will say Jayden Quaintance, but Quaintance can't shoot and I don't think he will be able to shoot.
Yeah.
Uh but he does he absolutely provides that other aspect of things. And so there are there are prospects in the draft that can fill that void. But I don't know how you feel, Zolfi. I want them to draft a guard. I really want them to draft a guard. I I I I first I started out this whole draft process saying they should draft a big and that it's a more safe choice and whatever, but like sifting through the the prospects and and everybody that might be available at 19, it just feels like the high upside swing is with some of these guards. How do you feel?
Yeah, I think I think I'm in the same boat cuz in the past I have tried to like go into it with the idea of like positional need and like thinking maybe that's something I want to like key in on, but like I I've been burned by that in the past before going into drafts and I think I again I've resigned myself to the idea of like best player available and based on what I've heard dipping my toes into this draft is that like there is a slew of guards here that can have that I up upside of being a lead creator at least give you the potential to get there and I think the Raptors since that is a need as well like if that's the best player on your board, you go for it and then if you go into this and they say this draft is full of strong guards like why would you take yourself away from that just because, right? So I think if the one of those guys is there and you really believe they have that high upside of being an on-ball creator which the Raptors could use like again Scotty Barnes did his thing in the playoffs, but are you going to get that for 82 games of a regular season? Probably not and nor should you try to. I think it's an exhausting way for him to play. So having a guy who can take some of that burden off of him or at least be doing some of that second side stuff, I think will be generally very helpful for them as well. So that would be interesting and I think well something you said that I did really like about like I think it spoke to the idea of like the timing of this like Dan kind of being able to say it now. I think coming off the run that Scotty had, it it it doesn't not necessarily urgency, but the idea of like finding that center or finding that player that can fit next to him and Koloko Murray Boils now cuz you you saw it at the highest level cuz you mentioned Precious Achiuwa and Christian Koloko, but like Scotty was a very different player then, too. Like he didn't he wasn't necessarily at this point yet. So now more than ever finding potentially that guy to fit next to them, whether that again is in free agency or in the draft, I think is interesting to hear Dan bring it up cuz it seems to be at least an acknowledgement, like you said, from the front office that this is something we're looking to address one way or the other to have that kind of release valve for a Scotty Barnes and Koloko Murray Boils who does lost stuff in the short roll as well. So it'll it'll be interesting there and I love that you gave us some prospect information because I want to keep asking you about some of your favorite prospects in this draft and we're going to touch on that on the other side of this break. So stay tuned on Locked on Raptors.
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All right, guys. Back to talking about the NBA draft. You posted your official tiers of happiness for the Raptors number 19 and I thought it would be fun. I have them here for the people watching and for people listening, I'll just like.
I'm glad you brought that up because I was like scrambling to search that. Wow, you're Okay, good call.
Yeah, I got I got it for you. Don't worry. Uh so, for those listening here, you have your ecstatic tier and I'll break that really quickly. Le'Bron Filon, Christian Anderson, Cameron Car, Morris Johnson, Dalen Swain, Jaylen Quaintance. I know you already mentioned Johnson and Quaintance. You also have players you would like, you would understand, and then maybe wouldn't understand for the Raptors. I want to start at the top of this list and maybe you don't have this ecstatic tier ranked in this order necessarily, but a player that I I would love to get your thoughts on because it seems to his name keep coming up with a lot of people I've listened to is LeBaron Philon. And I know you had a good conversation with Ben Pfeiffer about him as well. Trey at RR seems very high on LeBaron Philon as well. What has you sold specifically on LeBaron, especially for the Raptors?
Uh rim pressure is very important for the Toronto Raptors. They don't have a lot of players that can get to the basket. RJ Barrett is basically the only guy who can get to the hoop, and I think LeBaron Philon would be the second guy that could get to the hoop for them. He is relentless in his nature in terms of getting downhill. He's really crafty at getting into these floaters, and like his finishing package is very very good. A little ground bound like in terms he's not like a high-flying athlete by any nature, but he is able to finish in and around the basket pretty proficiently. And then on the other side, you know, at least last year he showed he could be like a 40% three-point shooter. You know, from my conversation with Ben, I was talking kind of comparing him and Christian Anderson, and he's like LeBaron Philon is much closer to a good pull-up shooter than Christian Anderson is to a downhill threat. And so I think the difference between those guys is like LeBaron can clearly give you both sides of the coin versus Christian Anderson is is a very talented shot maker, like probably the best shooter in this class. That goes for something that's very important, but LeBaron can give you kind of that secondary creation in a major way. He also in his first season in college, he was a great defender, and that fell off once he got more usage and once he was asked to kind of be the star in his role. I think given the Raptors context, given where they would throw him in, which would be like probably like 15 minutes a game or something like that. He could thrive. He could be a better defender. And his length is there for them. So, I I I like LeBaron. I like all those guys that I mentioned that I would be ecstatic for. You know, the two bigs that I mentioned, even though I said I would lean guard or or wing for the Raptors in this draft, um I like Jayden Quaintance, I like Mouhamed Gueye, Johnson, I like Steinbach in terms of picks for them just because, again, it it adds a a level of like versatility to their front court that I think would be interesting and worth swinging on. Uh but they're just they're a lot of high-upside guards and and wings that I think we could swing for. Um and look, there's Christian Anderson. Um I'm a big fan of Cam Carr. I think Cam Carr would be awesome on this Raptors team. Uh we'll see if he's available. But truthfully, a lot of those guys in that in that ecstatic tier that I had, I'm not sure if they will be available at 19. That's the big question. I feel like most of the guys that I picked maybe one of them will be available at 19, but I I would be shocked if more than one of those guys is available at 19. So, even though I would be ecstatic, I'm kind of setting myself up for those guys not being available.
I think that's the way to look at it. Again, like if the Raptors are in on any of these players, you would have to imagine other teams ahead of them are as well. Especially, you can look at a team like the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls. They could use some of the same stuff, right? Uh but I I do agree with you that Efe Abogidi to me, again, based on just dipping my toes into it, he really does seem to have the best balance out of the things you kind of want or at least in terms of what you want to bet on in terms of upside. I don't necessarily think of him as like a Moribund guy necessarily, but it's like the stuff that you want to see in like today's game, right? It's getting rim pressure, but also having production from the perimeter or at least having the makings of both of those things. And then you, like you said, Christian Anderson maybe doesn't have that downhill pressure the same. Ben Sheppard is a bit slower of a mover, and I think Assem Abogidi brought up a really great point with you that maybe some of that was what the system was in Alabama and the spacing provided LeBaron, so we'll see. And Efe Abogidi again, the pull-up shooting, you're not sure if it's there to the same level. So, all these guys are going to have question marks, but it seems like LeBaron seems to have the best balance out of that for the the prospect.
Like, they're all small.
Yeah, I know that's a big thing for you, and I'm kind of with you on that.
Like, they are all small. Every single one of them has some small features, whether it's weight, whether it's height, whether it's wingspan, or whether it's a combination of all of those things. Like, LeBaron Philon, uh I think he's like 175 lbs, you know? Like, he's not a big boy. He is not a big boy. Christian Anderson is also like 180-85 lbs. Like, he's a skinny dude. Uh he's also like only 6'1 on a good day. And like, if the Raptors' intentions are to compete with the very best of the best, and I I know it's like contending is a moving target in the NBA, you know what I mean? There will be small guards. We just saw Jalen Brunson win an NBA Finals MVP. But, at the same time, it's just it's really hard to be a successful small guard in the NBA. As much as we dog on Becky Hammon for her comments, like, sh- what she had said was, "It's very hard to be a small guard. It's very, very hard." Jalen Brunson is an exception to that rule. Steph Curry is an exception to that rule. Allen Iverson, Isaiah Thomas, these guys are the exceptions to those rules. It's not you know, it's it's again, it's very hard for a small guard to be successful. And basically, all of these guys are small guards. And the Raptors, by the way, have a bunch of small guards between Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead. And so, you you it's just it's kind of tough, you know? It's kind of tough when you're looking at all these guards and you're saying the size advantage for all of them makes it a question.
Yeah, I think I I'm with you on that. It's funny, like, coming into this, I think it was one of the first episodes of yours that I listened to where you brought up the point of small forwards. And as a Raptors fan, like you would maybe have a soft spot because Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, but there was a part of me as well where I'm like hide in mouse for the 30-year-olds in the you know there we go. From the for the OG's, but there was a part of me that was like man it would be nice to finally have a guard that's like 6'3" or above, right? Like this team just hasn't had one of those in quite some time. So but yeah like that's just potentially not how it's going to shake out based on the guy guys available. We'll see if it's enough of a concern to go away from them or not. But yeah maybe Jalen Brunson has changed people's minds a little bit. Recency bias is definitely a thing in the NBA and in places in general. So maybe he changed opinions on that. But you mentioned Cam Carr. So I was kind of curious from your perspective who else out of this group of players I can bring it back up here for the people watching. That you want to maybe show some love to. You think maybe hasn't been talked about enough or you think could make sense for the Raptor in another area as well.
So I I feel like a lot of Raptors fans are split on Allen Graves. You know honestly on a day-to-day basis I'm kind of split on Allen Graves. But he's weirdly unique. Okay, he came off of the bench for Santa Clara. Played like 22 minutes. He's an analytics darling. So like steal percentage, block percentage, BPM, all those things near the top of the the draft class. And so the analytics community loves him. And when you watch his tape I came away impressed with his tape. I was like this is he's like a big body kind of reminds you of like Boris Diaw but has the defensive versatility and has the hands that probably Boris Diaw did not have. And so like he is an intriguing unique prospect that I think could fit some of the holes if the Raptors end up losing Mamukelashvili. And so if if Mamou is not there this summer and he moves on to a different team, Graves can come in and play some of those similar roles that Mamukelashvili did for this team. And And again, I'm not saying that um this is like a a sure fire pick. Like this is the guy they need to pick. There are clear questions with him. He was a bench player last year, right? And his productivity, we don't know if it will scale up to the NBA level, but he's just a fascinating prospect. And I know Raptors fans are very split on him. Even my own group chats are very split on him. Literally watching people right now talk about Allan Graves. Um but it just it feels like it feels like he could help this team. You know, he he he's a very good shooter, which helps. He's like a a guy who can hit on pretty decent volume. Kind of actually shoots like Al Horford. If you watch his jumper, he has a very similar release to Al Horford.
Like the arms come out a lot, is that it?
Yeah, a little bit. Uh and he's like he's 6'8, 6'9. He has a 7-ft wingspan. So, like very Al Horford-esque built.
Okay.
So, I don't know, man. I just I think that he would be a an intriguing fit for the Raptors. I just I'm not sure. I would like to make a pitch, maybe even have the discussion of Allan Graves because I think he's a guy who maybe would be there for the Raptors at 19.
Yeah, I'll be honest. I don't know a ton about Allan Graves, but the phrase you use, "analytics darling", is the number one thing I hear about this guy. At least that seems to be the headliner. And I think somebody I think it might have been Sam who brought it up with you about the idea of like the Raptors definitely look for guys who can do dribble, pass, shoot, right? Like good processors. And he seems to fall in that mix, at least to do a most of those things. So, it's one of those situations where like if the Raptors trust it and feels like he fits within their system, and that's a big thing. It's like, does this guy fit into how the Raptors want to play specifically. And if he does, then you definitely find a role for him and you can see how they can use his tools for it. But if he if he's not necessarily able to fit within that, like you you can't make a square piece fit into a circle hole or whatever the saying is, right? Like But like again, like he if he's a guy with multiple tools, then you can see where there's a future there with the Raptors, right?
Yeah, absolutely. And like again to the dribble pass shoot connection, like there are there are few bigs in this draft that kind of check those boxes. You know, a couple of them fit two of them, you know, or maybe one and a half of them. He kind of fits all three, although dribbling not so much. Shooting and passing for sure, those are the things that he does. But he's just an intriguing guy. And I know, you know, Cam Car we haven't really talked about, but like he's also wildly versatile. I I personally don't think you can have too much of the same type of player that Cam Car is. There's People are saying there's a lot of duplication between him and Kobe Walter, and it's like why not two Kobe Walters? That sounds like it's excellent. He adds another element that Kobe doesn't necessarily, which is he's a crazy athlete. He is incredible in the open floor, and I think that will propel the Raptors transition offense in a big way. So just again, I I like a lot of prospects.
We actually would have a shorter prospect a shorter episode if you were just like, "Ask who do you not like?"
[laughter]
And I would be like, "Kobe doesn't make sense for the Toronto Raptors. He can't shoot. He basically doesn't do anything other than barrel to the rim well." And Karim Lopez for similar reasons doesn't make a lot of sense for the Toronto Raptors. Boom, episode done. That's what.
There we go.
Yeah.
Oh, I was going to ask and there you go, you answered before I asked.
Yeah, man.
Yeah, I'm trying. It's all good.
Yeah. I'm glad you brought up Cam Whitmore though cuz like I don't I don't necessarily see him in this mold, especially not yet, but like there's been ideas of like the Well, the Raptors need bigs or the Raptors need lead creators, so why are we thinking about wings or players like that? But you brought it up like you can never have too many great wings in today's NBA, especially especially versatile wings. And like watching the playoffs, especially last couple years, like like if you're a team that's looking to eventually contend or want to contend, and it's ironic because the Raptors had this guy, but like an OG Anunoby type, Aaron Gordon is a guy I bring up as well. Those really versatile wing like plug-and-play guys who can do multiple things for you and like scale up and scale down. Like those are so important to have in today's NBA, and like if you can if you feel like there's a chance that a guy can be that for you or build into that, and again, ironically, the Raptors had that in OG Anunoby, like go for it, right? Especially if you believe in a guy like Cam Whitmore.
Uh you know, your your your buddy at Sportsnet, Michael Grange, uh he he had a great great quote when OG got traded. He's like, "You will be searching forever to replicate find another OG Anunoby." Uh and I I think the Raptors are in a very similar position where like you're trying to create OG in the aggregate, you know, because it's really hard to find a 6'8" monster truck of a human being uh that can also defend and shoot. Like he is I I I think I saw a Bill Simmons clip a couple of weeks ago where he's like, "OG Anunoby might be the three-and-D guy. Like he might be the greatest three-and-D player of all time." He probably is. Like realistically, and so just it's hard to find that again. Cam Whitmore is, you know, 4 in shorter than OG Anunoby. He's also probably like 100 lb lighter,
[laughter]
you know, uh and him and Jabari have similar like bodily structures in terms of like skinnier dudes uh with longer arms that can help them on the weak side, but Cam still needs to grow into his own defensively to be like at his best on that end. Is there an OG Anunoby type in this draft? I would probably say like Jaden Quaintance is probably that guy, or Mo Bamba Johnson is that guy. Like, dudes who if they hit their ceiling, will be like first-team all-defense level defenders. Um
Yeah.
Quaintance has injury issues. I don't know what the medical stuff is with him. I have no information on that front. And then Mouhamed Gueye is a guy who likely gets picked earlier than the Raptors at 19, but he provides all of like the defensive versatility, uh fluidity that you want from that position. So, it's just those are the two dudes that I would say are like closest to what you get from OG as a defender, um but I honestly even bigger than him.
Yeah. I mean, I I'm very interested or intrigued by the idea of Mouhamed Gueye. I I've always been like keen to guys who can like, again, scale up, scale down. He had a lot of talented players around him with the Day'Ron Sharpe and Yaxel Lendeborg, and to still have an impact. Very different players here, but I think of like how you saw what Kon Knueppel was even next to Cooper Flagg, right? Like, guys who can still show you something and like sell you on their game next to other really talented players, I think is always a positive. So, that's why Mouhamed Gueye Johnson as well. I I have eyes on him and would love to see him drop, but like you, I'm not sure he's going to be there for the Raptors. So, we'll see how that goes. All right, one final break before we wrap things up, and I'll have one last question for us after this. So, stay tuned on Locked On Raptors.
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Okay, so we you already addressed the question about like the Raptors potentially trading up or trading down. Doesn't seem all that likely. It seems like they're very comfortable of the spot they're at. So, the last question I wanted to ask you as kind of putting you on the spot here. Can be draft related or otherwise, but give me a bold prediction. Give me a hot take for the Raptors off season. There's a lot you can talk about. Free agency, you mentioned possibly Mamou. There's the draft. What are you thinking? Give me a hot take.
I don't know if this is necessarily a hot take. Maybe it is. Uh but I I think there's a chance the Raptors trade Brandon Ingram this summer.
Okay, I think that is a hot take. You just brought him in, you get I I I personally think so.
Okay, let's go with that. Sure.
You brought you brought him in, you gave him an extension.
Yeah. Um the reason I say that is because you know, he's making 40 some odd million dollars. And I I think given where he's at, he has one year left after this one and then a player option, yeah, right? And so I I don't think he takes that player option. I think he opts out of that player option. You know, he he just had a healthy year. He made an All-Star team. I know he was injured down the stretch, but I think there's no reason for him to want to opt into the final season. I think he would rather opt out and sign a long-term deal or at the very least try his options somewhere.
Yeah.
And so I think they they the Raptors, they will have to make a decision on decision on Brandon Ingram quicker than we expected them to, you know?
It's good point.
And so it's either going to be at the deadline in February or it's going to be in the summer, but the Raptors will have to decide whether Brandon Ingram is a is a part of the future of this Raptors team. And so that's why I think you know, given where they are at competitively and where they want to go next, a guy of that kind of stature in the league, a guy who made an All-Star team could be a useful enough asset to trade around and get something get another player in the door. Who is that? What they decide to do with that? I'm not necessarily sure on that, but I think it kind of by process of elimination, I think it would be really hard to trade Immanuel Quickley right now. Not as hard as people expect. I think Quickley his contract is getting better, but
Flat number two.
Yeah, flat number two. I think it would be difficult still to trade Immanuel Quickley. It would be damn near impossible to trade Jakob Poeltl.
Yeah.
And then for RJ Barrett, I think they you know, Bobby Webster said it said this in his postgame press conference or postseason press conference, maybe this ends up changing, but the fact that they do have him for one more year means that they are comfortable going into free agency next year with him as a full free agent and then they will negotiate. They obviously know this is home for him, so they they can find the right number. But it it really does feel like the Raptors will have to choose between RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram pretty soon. And I think given where those two guys are at, given how the seasons ended for both of those guys, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to move Ingram. Uh and that's that's my hot take. That's my fire. Fire for this this podcast. Yeah.
You know what? I like it and I think it speaks to this idea of like the Raptors in the past have been burned a couple times for lack of a better term for not cutting the cord sooner on situations. Maybe you can see the writing on the wall. Again, like if there's just inclination that Ingram's going to opt out of that player option and test free agency, or even just from an on-court perspective, maybe you see there is a cap ceiling. Now, we don't necessarily need to draw that conclusion yet. Obviously, he was hurt for the playoffs. First time back in there, it didn't go right. Maybe that gets better if he stays healthy, right? Or that.
Like I think Ingram will have a good year next year if he's with the.
Yeah, probably will. Yeah.
You know, like I I think he will be even better than he was last season where it felt like he was still trying to figure out what his fit was with the Raptors and the Raptors were really trying to tailor things to him to start the year. I think there will be a much more seamless connection to start this season. So, I think Ingram will have a good year. It's just that you know, to your point, I think that is the position that the Raptors need to improve. I mean, they they need to improve a lot of positions, you know, big man, point guard, etc. But like similar to the DeMar to Kawhi jump, the Raptors need to go from Brandon Ingram to that next tier of star. And I I really do think that BI is the only way to go about that because of his salary slot, because of the fact that he's still a relatively attractive asset for for teams, and he's now going to be on an expiring contract. Those are all things that make me feel like he would he would make sense in a trade situation. But sorry, I interrupted you. Go ahead. What were you saying?
No, no, no. I I I that's kind of like the point here. Like again, the idea is like if the Raptors feel like their ceiling is capped and they need to upgrade upon that to get into that next tier. And like, they probably will have to, to your point, do that sooner rather than later because you can say the season that they just came off of was a feel-good, but now that you've got them back into the playoffs, expectation is there. It's.
For sure.
Getting that next step. Like, you can do maybe one more year of a first-round exit, but after that it's like, well, where are we going from here? And that's when you have to continue having those hard conversations. And when you look at upward mobility, you're.
Right.
Like, a guy like Brandon Ingram, his salary, his situation makes that potentially the easiest to make happen. Uh so, we'll have to see there. I like the take. I think it's interesting. I don't think anyone has really come out yet and said like, again, like, consider doing it because the Raptors and again, I said in the past, they've been burned by not cutting the cord sooner on certain situations even if the writing is on the wall. And if it is there, I think it would make sense to explore the idea at least. So, we'll see that. I appreciate you giving your bold take there. And something that could impact all of this is who they get in the draft and how they look and what that opens up for them in terms of possibilities. So, we'll have to wait and see on that. Again, the draft is less than a week away. But all right, S, before we wrap things up, let the fine people know where they can find you and if you have any closing thoughts about the Raptors heading into draft week.
Oh, man, I'm so excited for the draft. I'm really, really excited. We're over at The Athletic, we're doing a live show. And so, you know, we're we're going to be literally I'm actually flying to Chicago on Tuesday. We're going to do a live show from our studio there, which will be a lot of fun. Uh it's going to be myself, Zach Harper, and our college expert CJ Moore, which will be super fun to do. So, if you guys want to come and like watch the draft with us, come react to all of the crazy things that probably will happen in this NBA draft. I I do work over at The Athletic. I host The NBA Daily, so you can tune in there. And of course, you know, Raptors Republic, where Zulfi and I cook up stuff.
Oh, yeah.
But yeah, that's that's all I got for you, man. Thank you very much. Appreciate you having me on, man. It was a lot of fun.
Awesome. Well, thank you again, Es, for being on. Appreciate your time here. And that will do it for us. For myself, Sophie Shake, and Es Berry Haney. Thank you to everyone who tuned in as we hold the fort down for Shawn Woodley, who needs to get back to work according to Es. But hopefully he'll be back after he's refreshed from some time off. In the meantime, make sure you like and subscribe to Locked On Raptors on all platforms. And don't forget to comment below if you have any thoughts about the Raptors heading into draft week. And don't forget to check out the 2026 Locked On NBA Mock Draft, the most comprehensive NBA draft analysis for NBA experts. We have college experts. We have NBA draft experts as well. Find that on the 2026 Locked On NBA Draft Guide. It'll be in the description as well. But for now, that does it for this episode of Locked On Raptors. We'll see you again very soon. Peace out.