{"id":35051,"date":"2020-11-23T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T23:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=35051"},"modified":"2021-01-30T22:48:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T03:48:47","slug":"toronto-raptors-2020-nba-draft-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/11\/23\/toronto-raptors-2020-nba-draft-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors 2020 NBA Draft Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/nba-teams\/toronto-raptors\/\" target=\"_self\">Toronto Raptors<\/a> had two draft picks in 2020. They selected 29<sup>th<\/sup> and 59<sup>th<\/sup> overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Their first-round draft pick was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/malachi-flynn-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Malachi Flynn<\/strong><\/a> from San Diego State University and the second-round pick was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/jalen-harris-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jalen Harris<\/strong><\/a> from the University of Nevada.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Toronto Raptors Draft Review<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Malachi Flynn<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Flynn\u2019s first team will be the 2019 NBA Champions, the Raptors. He is a 6&#8217;1&#8243; point guard drafted out of San Diego State. In the 2019-20 NCAA season, he averaged 17.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, he won the Consensus second-team All-American honors, Mountain West Player of the Year, and First-team All-Mountain West in 2020. In the same year, he also won the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With the 29th pick of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBADraft?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NBADraft<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Raptors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Raptors<\/a> select Malachi Flynn (@malachi_flynn3)!<\/p>\n<p>2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBADraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBADraft<\/a> presented by State Farm on ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OFuNzN6b1z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/OFuNzN6b1z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1329272005552705536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 19, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This is what Bobby Webster, general manager of the Raptors, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nba\/article\/prospect-interest-raptors-flynn-cut-cloth-lowry-vanvleet\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to<\/a> Steven Loung of Sportsnet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a modern NBA point guard,\u201d said Webster. \u201cI think he can do it all on the offensive end. A lot of people are going to talk about the pick-and-roll, shooting off the dribble, shoots the three-ball well, obviously defends at a high level as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What also might have played a role is how similar he is to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lowryky01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Lowry<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Fred VanVleet<\/strong><\/a> in terms of height. There are also other similarities like making opposing players uncomfortable, and playing well on the defensive end.<\/p>\n<p>It is no wonder the Raptors took interest in drafting Flynn. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/defense\/?sort=DEF_RATING&amp;dir=-1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBA.com\/stats<\/a>, the Raptors had the second-best defensive rating in the 2019-20 NBA season. So, his defense will be a great complement to the Raptors organization.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grade: A-<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Jalen Harris<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Harris is a combo guard, who&#8217;s listed height is 6&#8217;5&#8243;. He last played for the Nevada Wolfpack in the 2019-20 NCAA season. There he averaged 21.6 points, 6.40 rebounds, and 3.93 assists, and 1.13 steals per game. This is what Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said of Harris <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/news\/toronto-raptors-jalen-harris-nevada-nba-draft\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to<\/a> Aaron Rose of Sports Illustrated:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He is a big-time athlete who does a lot of different types of play-making, whether it&#8217;s attacking, he&#8217;s really comfortable with the ball in his hands,&#8221; Tolzman said of Harris on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Harris is a scoring machine who had an incredible 32.7 percent usage rate. This could be a plus for the Raptors. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional\/?sort=PTS&amp;dir=-1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According to<\/a> NBA Advanced Stats, the Raptors were 13<sup>th<\/sup> in the NBA as they scored 112.8 points per game. If the Raptors want to win the Larry O&#8217;Brien Championship Trophy, their offense needs to improve.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe the addition of Harris will help that. He was part of the Conference USA All-Freshman in 2017. He also made it to the First-team All-Mountain West and won the Mountain West Newcomer of the Year. Both of those honors took place in 2020.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With the 59th pick of the NBA Draft, the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Raptors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Raptors<\/a> select Jalen Harris!<\/p>\n<p>2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBADraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBADraft<\/a> presented by State Farm <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZiFcF4rtq4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ZiFcF4rtq4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA Draft (@NBADraft) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBADraft\/status\/1329292763813326848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 19, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Toronto Raptors 2020 NBA Draft Overview and Grade<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Raptors are pleased to get both Harris and Flynn. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8kvD8Qrt6s4\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">According to<\/a> Jump View, Tolzman said they did not expect to get both players. Both were rated higher on the Raptors&#8217; draft board.<\/p>\n<p>The problem though is the competition both players will likely face. Lowry and VanVleet are two of the Raptors&#8217; three-best players. Lastly, shooting guard <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/powelno01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norman Powell<\/a><\/strong> is one of the best bench players in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>However, shooting guard <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daviste02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Terence Davis<\/a><\/strong> is unlikely to be signed by the Raptors. This is because of charges laid against him for assaulting his girlfriend in October <a href=\"https:\/\/toronto.ctvnews.ca\/toronto-raptors-respond-to-assault-charges-laid-against-rookie-terence-davis-1.5168417\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to<\/a> Kerrisa Wilson, a Web Content Writer for CP24. Expect Harris to replace Davis as a backup shooting guard. It would also not be surprising if Flynn could also play the shooting guard position as both the point guard and shooting guard positions are similar.<\/p>\n<p>There is a question of Lowry\u2019s age. He is 34-years-old and was one of the oldest NBA All-Stars in 2020. How many more years can he produce at an NBA All-Star level? These are the questions they need to answer. From what Tolzman said, these players were steals in the draft.<\/p>\n<p>So, taking all into consideration, the Raptors got high grades. They were not going to get a player who could play straight away in the NBA in a starting role. However, from the choices the Raptors had, they so far seemed to be very good draft picks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Grade: A-<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If you ever want to know what someone\u2019s about, competing against them is usually the best way to go.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/olearychris?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@olearychris<\/a> \ud83d\udcf0 \u00bb <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Zd8vcxhT64\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/Zd8vcxhT64<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeTheNorth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WeTheNorth<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IBMCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@IBMCanada<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JZKUCwlzef\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JZKUCwlzef<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Raptors\/status\/1329789428672454657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 20, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Main Image: <a id=\"X09yh9a0TBxplsG8ZYZb0A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1081231886\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'X09yh9a0TBxplsG8ZYZb0A',sig:'T-8pu4KYGSs98VvesQIath2qU9HvknPPKHLxupOkhp4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1081231886',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Raptors had two draft picks in 2020. They selected 29th and 59th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Their first-round draft pick was Malachi Flynn from San Diego State University and the second-round pick was Jalen Harris from the University of Nevada. The Toronto Raptors Draft Review Malachi Flynn Flynn\u2019s first team will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3104,"featured_media":35210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1608,2,62,556],"tags":[4000,2849,318,4121],"class_list":["post-35051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-jalen-harris","tag-malachi-flynn","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-toronto-raptors-draft"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}