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The wildest day on the NBA calendar is here.
The NBA draft is finally underway after trade rumours swirled around the Raptors for months. Plenty of NBA deals are expected with teams gathered in New York for the draft.
Star columnist Bruce Arthur is live blogging throughout the evening as we follow all the news, rumours and draft selections involving the Raptors — who picked at No. 9 tonight — and the rest of the NBA.
18 hrs ago
We asked NBA draft prospects if they worked out for the Raptors
By Libaan Osman The Star
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Raptors are known as an organization that keeps its cards close to its chest, making it difficult to pinpoint which top NBA prospects were invited for pre-draft workouts over the last few weeks.
The private meetings are a good indication of which players the team is interested in drafting. It’s anyone’s guess as to who they might take ninth overall at Wednesday’s draft in Brooklyn, N.Y. — or if they’ll end up picking in the top 10 at all.
As rumours swirl around the Raptors potentially trading their pick, here are the prospects invited to the NBA Draft green room who confirmed to the Star that they did, in fact, work out for Toronto.
Read more here: Steak dinners, crab cakes and love for Toronto: We asked NBA draft prospects if they worked out for the Raptors
18 hrs ago
NBA mock draft: Who will the Raptors take at No. 9?
By Doug Smith The Star
First, the full disclosure: All of this, or most of it, is likely to be wrong so no holding it over us and this is just for recreational use.
But after some research, some conversations, some logical assessment, here’s the best we’ve got for the 2025 NBA mock lottery draft.
Mock as you will and understand that even the true experts don’t know.
“Our eight is probably different than every other team’s eight above us,” was how Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said Monday. “So where the lines are made of (about) who goes ahead of us to the next six guys after us … it’s kind of blurry.”
Read the Star’s mock draft here: NBA mock draft | Who we believe the Raptors will take and how the lottery picks will play out
18 hrs ago
2025 NBA draft primer: Raptors targets, top prospects and a Canadian first-rounder
By Star staff
Over the last couple of months, the Star has profiled 2025 NBA draft prospects, including some who the Raptors could target Wednesday.
About halfway through our series, the NBA draft lottery ping pong balls determined that the Raptors would be drafting ninth, giving us a better picture of who the Raptors might take a look at.
Below is an overview of the players we’ve covered, what makes some a potential fit for the Raptors, and links to the full profiles.
Read more: Raptors targets, top prospects and a Canadian first-rounder
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18 hrs ago
Inside Canadian Will Riley’s journey to the NBA draft
By Libaan Osman The Star
Will Riley is pencilled in as the 22nd pick in a recent ESPN mock draft, though the Star has learned that some teams drafting in the lottery range have considered Riley. His scoring instincts and ability to create his own shot have caught the attention of NBA executives and scouts.
At the draft combine in Chicago in May, Riley met and interviewed with 12 teams. He will become the second player from Kitchener to be drafted since Jamal Murray went seventh to the Denver Nuggets in 2016.
He’s also gotten plenty of love from the Durant family.
Read the full profile here: Inside Will Riley’s journey to the NBA draft: Love from the Durant family, inspiration from Jamal Murray and a basketball addiction
Updated 13 hrs ago
Porzingis going to Hawks in a 3-team trade agreement, AP source says
By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press
Kristaps Porzingis is being traded by the Boston Celtics to the Atlanta Hawks, and part of what will be a three-team deal gives the Brooklyn Nets another selection in Wednesday’s first round of the NBA draft, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement.
Porzingis is going to the Hawks, while Georges Niang and a second-round pick will be acquired by Boston, and Brooklyn will wind up with Terance Mann and the No. 22 pick that is held by Atlanta in Wednesday’s draft, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade isn’t expected to be finalized until the start of the new league year on July 6.
Read more from The Associated Press
Updated 12 hrs ago
Kyrie Irving and Mavs agree on $119M, 3-year deal, AP source says
By Schuyler Dixon The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving have agreed on a $119 million, three-year contract with the All-Star guard still recovering from a torn ACL that will sideline him into the 2025-26 season, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday night.
Irving is declining the $43 million player option in the final year of his current three-year contract, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal isn’t expected to be finalized until the start of the new league year on July 6.
The new contract will align Irving with co-star Anthony Davis, who joined the Mavericks in the seismic trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Davis has three years remaining on his contract, with a player option that now will be the same season as Irving in 2027-28.
Read more from The Associated Press
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Updated 11 hrs ago
Raptors worked out intriguing prospect Noa Essengue, but don’t read a ton into it
By Doug Smith The Star
Po – tate – o; po – taht – o. One man’s secret workout is another’s function of timing.
According to EPSN’s Jonathan Givony, the Raptors had forward Noa Essengue in town for a “secret” workout this week as the French player travelled from Germany, where he plays for Ratiopham Uln, to New York, where he’ll wait out tonight’s first round of the NBA draft.
Other league sources confirm the report but to read a ton into it is a stretch. Put it this way: the Raptors didn’t advertise any of the dozens players they worked out so it’s clear every workout was a “secret.”
The Raptors are intrigued by the six-foot-10 Essengue, though. They saw him often over the course of past season and since he was passing by anyway, getting him in for a session was nice. Vital? No. Mean a ton? Not really. He’s on their list, has been for weeks.
This was Raptors vice-president of player personnel Dan Tolzman earlier this week:
“We scout these guys so much during the season that what a workout does doesn’t really sway you that much. It’s nice to get them here and to get to know them a little bit and, honestly, to get some of your non-scouting staff around them, but from a getting to know guys standpoint, it’s just a workout.”
But with everyone breathlessly looking for signs ahead of the draft, nuggets of news are gladly consumed and dissected.
Updated 10 hrs ago
Former Raptor Fred VanVleet agrees to two-year deal with Rockets
By Star staff
Fred VanVleet is planning to return to Houston, signing a two-year, $50 million (U.S.) deal with the Rockets, ESPN reports.
Senior insider Shams Charania posted that the Rockets are declining VanVleet’s $44.9 million team option to take this deal. That team option was part of the three-year, $128.5 million contract that lured him away from the Toronto Raptors two summers ago.
Updated 10 hrs ago
Celtics weaker after two big trades this week, good news for the East
By Doug Smith The Star
Maybe the Boston Celtics just needed a gap year or maybe they just wanted to spruce the homestead up a bit before closing the deal to sell the team.
Or both?
Whichever, the Cs lowered expectations for themselves in the 2025-26 season with a couple of pre-draft transactions.
They traded Jrue Holiday to Portland for Anfernee Simons and a couple of second-round picks and sent Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta as part of a three-deal including Brooklyn to get Georges Niang and a second-round draft choice.
Two quick points:
The Celtics, already facing a coming season without Jayson Tatum as he recovers from a torn Achilles, have hit the pause on contention because Simons and Niang are a lot of things but what they aren’t is Holiday and Porzingis.
And, with a private equity executive finalizing a deal to buy the storied franchise for $6.1 billion (U.S.), the two deals shave the team’s salary and tax threshold for the coming season from $540 million to $280 million, according to ESPN’s expert Bobby Marks, and that’s a nice welcoming gift for the new ownership.
Not a bad thing for other Eastern Conference foes, either.
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Updated 9 hrs ago
Atlanta Hawks fans have reason for optimism
By Doug Smith The Star
The Atlanta Hawks are determined to get out of Play-In Purgatory this NBA draft week.
The addition of Kristaps Porzingis in a deal with Boston and Brooklyn. They are still armed with the 13th pick in tonight’s first round, the perennially play-in team looks like a legitimate contender for a guaranteed top-six playoff spot.
Porzingis has only averaged about 50 per cent attendance over the last five seasons because of injuries and that’s an issue but putting him with Trae Young, Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu and Zaccharie Risacher gives the Hawks a pretty potent group.
If the Hawks don’t whiff on tonight’s 13th selection, there’s every reason for optimism in Atlanta.
Updated 8 hrs ago
What time will the Raptors pick? Who is picking ahead of them?
So, when?
The word out of Brooklyn and the NBA draft tonight is that the Raptors should make their selection — ninth overall — right around 9 p.m. tonight.
The first pick is supposed to be made just before 8:10 p.m., there’s five minutes per selection; math puts the Raptors on the clock less than an hour after.
Dallas has the top pick followed by San Antonio, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Utah, Washington, New Orleans and Brooklyn before Toronto decides who to select. Phoenix has the 10th pick followed by Portland, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio again to round out the lottery selections.
Updated 4 hrs ago
Cooper Flagg is the prize player as the Mavericks hold the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft
By The Associated Press
Cooper Flagg lived up to every expectation during one season at Duke and has the potential for NBA superstardom.
That’s why Mavericks fans can’t wait to get him to Dallas.
The Mavericks are expected to take Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the draft on Wednesday night, quickly adding another franchise-altering player after trading one away last season.
The Mavericks fell into the lottery after dealing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February, though they had only a 1.8% chance of winning it. When they did, it gave them the opportunity to add an 18-year-old who was college basketball’s best player in 2024-25.
Read more here: Cooper Flagg is the prize player as the Mavericks hold the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft
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Updated 4 hrs ago
On the chaos of the NBA draft, and how the Raptors feel about the No. 9 pick
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Welcome to the NBA Draft in the age of frugality, desperation, and opportunity. NBA draft night can always produce big moves, but this year is already different. The punitive salary cap came into effect in 2023, and its effects are truly starting to take hold; the dreaded second apron is more or less a hard cap, and it pries teams apart so fast your window of contention might just be a revolving door.
Add a spate of devastating injures, and the sands shift fast. In the last few days we have seen the Boston Celtics, the 2024 NBA champion, burn down the team for the insurance money following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear; they sent Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta, and Jrue Holiday to Portland, and may not be done. The Hawks, who are mediocrity personified, might be going for it. Same with Orlando, which was desperately in need of shooting and relevance in a conference where Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard also tore their Achilles tendons; so the Magic traded four unprotected first-rounders and a pick swap, plus some bodies, for Memphis sharpshooter Desmond Bane. Brooklyn now has five first-round picks, on the logic that Oklahoma City and Brooklyn might not be so far apart after all.
Also, Washington and New Orleans exchanged underwhelming shooting guards. It was the trade equivalent of Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in “Face/Off”.
The question every team faces now is how opportunistic do you want to be? This applies to the Raptors as well, of course; Kevin Durant wasn’t a fit and Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t asked out of Milwaukee, but it’s an open question as to how patient Toronto wants to be. Could the No. 9 pick fetch something good? Is RJ Barrett a trade chip?
This draft is fascinating, with a high end of players who have all kinds of styles and potential. The league is in motion. Beyond that, the Raptors have internally decided that picks 3-11 are basically a grab bag of similar players, in theory: every one with upside, downside, and the chance to become a real player. The Raptors have done well at No. 9 before, and are confident they could do so again.
So in a league where free agency isn’t a real thing for the league’s best players, the draft is another chance for a chaos-leaning league to let it all out. This could be fun.
Updated 3 hrs ago
Increase in Achilles tears across the NBA is a ‘pretty huge red flag’
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Commissioner Adam Silver was talking on the broadcast about the spate of Achilles tears in the league — seven this year, way beyond the previous high of four, and miles about historical averages — and he is talking about all kinds of angles, including off-season workload, development between 10 and 19, an increase in Achilles injuries in the NFL, and the timing of Achilles tears; they have mostly happened before the all-star break before this season, so naturally Silver thinks that means it’s not the number of games. (The NBA will do anything to avoid reducing the number of games played.)
The one thing he didn’t mention: the increased workload of the pace and space era, where as Tom Haberstroh noted, Indiana and Oklahoma City ran an average of four more miles per game combined than Dallas and Boston last year. The fact that Tyrese Haliburton blew his Achilles at 25, and Jayson Tatum at 27, seems like a pretty huge red flag.
Updated 3 hrs ago
Draft or trade? The Raptors have plenty of options tonight
By Bruce Arthur The Star
One trick for the Raptors is figuring out what they actually are.
What is Immanuel Quickley over a full season, with these teammates? What about Brandon Ingram, in what is presumably a healthier team culture than New Orleans? What about Scottie Barnes, who is still a bundle of all-over talent who still hasn’t focused his talent into a recognizable star template? What do they look like together? And what about the youngsters: how much will Gradey Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Ochai Agbaji, and even Jamison Battle improve? What is RJ Barrett’s value in a trade, versus as a third forward?
Honestly, the only truly fixed value on this team is Jakob Poeltl. It honestly feels like the Raptors have a pile of options tonight: move down, stick at No. 9, trade the pick. It’s a volatile environment.
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Updated 2 hrs ago
Flagg and Harper go off the board. Now the real draft begins
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Adam Silver isn’t kidding about how the league is now defined by parity: OKC is a big team, but anyone can win. Dallas is such a weird team to have a No. 1 pick, but now has Cooper Flagg to extend their run of At Least One White Dude Star Player back to 1998: Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Luka Doncic. Now San Antonio will take Dylan Harper, and then the draft truly begins.
Updated 2 hrs ago
76ers take VJ Edgecombe, where will Ace Bailey go?
By Bruce Arthur The Star
V.J. Edgecombe was the chalk pick for the 76ers, and there he goes; the 76ers are being held hostage by Joel Embiid’s body and future, and any young talent is a gift.
Ace Bailey, meanwhile, seems like he was born to be a Washington Wizard, but I guess he could also have been born to be a Charlotte Bobcat.
Strong, strong “We Regret This” energy.
Updated 2 hrs ago
Stephen A. Smith hurts the NBA draft broadcast
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Stephen A. Smith adds nothing to pretty much every broadcast he’s on, and often, he is a net demerit. The act is so tired.
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Updated 2 hrs ago
Charlotte adds elite shooter Kon Knueppel
By Bruce Arthur The Star
LaMelo Ball is the most talented unserious basketball player in the world, edging out Jordan Poole, and Kon Knueppel is a fit in Charlotte, as much as anyone is: he is one of the few lottery picks in this draft whose upside is not defined by the age-old question, But Can He Learn To Shoot?
Charlotte now has Brandon Miller, Knueppel, and Ball on the perimeter: they can bomb threes, and it’s at least something. And maybe the Hornets can draft some or all of the other four K-named Knueppel brothers in the future.
Updated 2 hrs ago
Canadian Will Riley is well represented at NBA draft
By Libaan Osman The Star
Canadian Will Riley has close to 40 family and friends at the NBA draft in Brooklyn to hear his name called.
The native of Kitchener is the only Canadian expected to be drafted tonight.
In case you missed it, here’s our profile on the 19-year-old draft prospect:
Inside Will Riley’s journey to the NBA draft: Love from the Durant family, inspiration from Jamal Murray and a basketball addiction
Read more
Updated 2 hrs ago
Maybe Tre Johnson can give the Wizards some much-needed help
By Bruce Arthur The Star
The Washington Wizards haven’t gotten out of the second round since 1979, and they’ve only gotten as far as the second round five times in that span, including in the Masai Ujiri-era low point of 2015, when the Raptors got swept by John Wall and Brad Beal.
Anyway, I am not sure Tre Johnson does anything well other than shoot, but he can really shoot.
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Updated 2 hrs ago
Ace Bailey lands in Utah after cancelling pre-draft workouts
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Utah wasn’t one of Ace Bailey’s preferred destinations? Utah?
Updated 2 hrs ago
The Raptors are on the clock. Which way will they go?
By Bruce Arthur The Star
The Nets use the first of their five first-round picks on point guard Egor Demin, and the Raptors are on the clock.
You want a big, you can take Khaman Maluach, Collin Murray-Boyles, Noa Essengue, Carter Bryant.
Want a Euro point guard, you can take Kasparas Jakucionis.
Want a wild card, and there’s Cedric Coward.
The Raptors have options. Of those players, they only worked out Essengue and Murray-Boyles.
Updated 2 hrs ago
Pelicans take Jeremiah Fears, and not a point guard
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Scene from the 2025-26 New Orleans Pelicans season: Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears fighting over a ball, spilling into the empty stands as Trey Murphy watches with sad eyes.
Seriously, though, have the Pelicans tried employing a point guard? Will they?
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Updated 2 hrs ago
Raptors select Collin Murray-Boyles at No. 9 — and it’s a fascinating pick
By Bruce Arthur The Star
The Raptors taking Collin Murray-Boyles is fascinating.
Great athlete, strong defensive player, big wingspan, can do everything but shoot. The Raptors, uh, have some gaps in terms of shooting. Can the Raptors teach him to shoot? Does taking a forward mean RJ Barrett is even easier to move? This kid has serious upside, but the fit is a fascinating question.
To me the big question is this: Can Collin Murray-Boyles ever play next to Scottie Barnes?
Updated 2 hrs ago
Raptors pick Collin Murray-Boyles draws comparisons to Draymond Green
By Doug Smith The Star
Before the draft, the Star profiled a handful of potential Raptors draft picks, including Collin Murray-Boyles, who Toronto took with the No. 9 pick moments ago.
Here’s a look at what we wrote before the draft:
There are so many things that Collin Murray-Boyles brings to the NBA draft that are impossible to ignore.
He was a defensive star in the NCAA — he can switch coverages, blow up screen-roll actions and get his hands on passes — and any team looking for a young stopper to groom has to be enthralled with the 19-year-old South Carolina sophomore.
His size is impressive — six-foot-seven, 240 pounds — and there have already been comparisons to Golden State’s Draymond Green. That’s unfair to put on a kid who won’t turn 20 years old until next month and hasn’t even taken part in an NBA practice, but it is the kind of comp he’s getting.
The issue is that, while Murray-Boyles looks like an interesting project, he is a three-and-D specialist without the three right now.
Read the full profile here: Collin Murray-Boyles is drawing comparisons to Draymond Green but he might be a risk for Toronto
Updated 1 hr ago
Murray-Boyles is a smart player, and the Raptors saw him up close
By Bruce Arthur The Star
One thing with Murray-Boyles: The Raptors did work him out, and presumably they saw a guy whose shot isn’t broken. His shuttle run at the combine was quicker than Cooper Flagg’s, among others, and his three-quarters sprint was the same as Dylan Harper. Not a leaper, but he’s a smart player.
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Updated 1 hr ago
Noa Essengue joins list of prospects the Raptors passed on
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Noa Essengue is a young, skinny French forward who worked out for Toronto, and was connected to the Raps in a lot of mock drafts: he goes to Chicago. The run of Collin Murray-Boyles, Khaman Maluach, Cedric Coward and Essengue is now an official what-if sequence for the Raptors; they have done well by that measure in a whole pile of drafts, but this one is so deep that it will be extra interesting.
Read Doug Smith’s pre-draft profile on Essengue here: Why Frenchman Noa Essengue makes a whole lot of sense for Toronto
Updated 1 hr ago
Suns make a BIG splash, while the Grizzlies swoop in with a savvy move
By Bruce Arthur The Star
The Suns trading for Mark Williams and drafting Duke’s Khaman Maluach at the same time has to be a modern NBA record for size acquired within one minute.
And shooting guard Cedric Coward is fascinating, to the point where I half-hoped the Raptors were going to go down that road. He’s a monster athlete who can shoot, but barely played this year and has limited experience at higher levels. So interesting, and good luck to the Grizzlies with that experiment. I kind of love replacing Desmond Bane with Cedric Coward.
That said, the price Memphis paid — the No. 16 pick this year, a 2028 Orlando first, and two seconds — was not super small. But if you bet Orlando is going to be good in 2028 and Coward is a high upside guy, sure.
Updated 1 hr ago
The Atlanta Hawks are (surprisingly) making big moves
By Bruce Arthur The Star
The Hawks are making moves! Trading for Kristaps Porzingis! Trading the No. 13 (Derik Queen) to New Orleans for the No. 23 and a first next year that could belong to New Orleans or Milwaukee! The Hawks!
Also, is Queen Al Jefferson? Or Zach Randolph? Hard to say. Can Queen play next to Zion Williamson in New Orleans? Boy, I dunno
If the Atlanta Hawks are rolling you in a trade, you may need to ask yourself some hard questions
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Updated 1 hr ago
Trade frenzy followed the Raptors pick
By Bruce Arthur The Star
One very interesting wrinkle: three of the four players taken directly after the Raptors selection have been traded, and firsts are flying all over.
Atlanta got a great pick for not drafting Derik Queen, who wouldn’t fit them anyway. Plus, Charlotte got two back-end firsts for Mark Williams, who could conceivably get injured on the plane flight to Phoenix.
And San Antonio didn’t try to make a big swing, and will walk out with Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant to pair with Wemby. The Spurs had a good night, feels like.
Also, if you haven’t made a trade with New Orleans tonight, why not?
Updated 1 hr ago
Murray-Boyles on how he fits with the Raptors
By Libaan Osman The Star
Raptors first-round draft pick Collin Murray-Boyles says he’s ready to do the “dirty work” for the Raptors.
“They have a lot of good scorers, they have Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, the list goes on,” Murray-Boyles said when asked about his potential fit in Toronto the day before the draft.
“They have guys. I feel like I can be somebody that can come in and be a handyman, do that dirty work.”
Updated 1 hr ago
The NBA champs make a splash. There’s plenty more of that to come
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Oh, congratulations to the OKC Thunder for drafting an interesting big in Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber, who could be something, but if he doesn’t work out, the Thunder have a billion other picks. Playing the lottery without being in the lottery, if you will.
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Updated 1 hr ago
Trail Blazers take Chinese big man Yang Hansen with the surprise of the draft. We love to see it
By Bruce Arthur The Star
I love it when the first pick comes in and the player isn’t in the green room. Congratulations to Portland for taking giant Chinese big man Yang Hansen. He is seven-foot-one without shoes and played in the Chinese Basketball Association last year! He was the third-tallest guy at the combine, and the second-biggest hands! He doesn’t jump much! We’re twirling, twirling into the unknown, very exciting.
Update: He’s in the crowd! Wearing a white suit! This is delightful.
Portland trading out of the No. 11 spot, where exciting athlete Cedric Coward was taken, for the 16th pick and taking Chinese mystery giant Yang Hansen and a future first and two seconds is a truly incredible sliding doors moment, honestly.
Incredible bonus fact: Coward is six-foot-five, and Yang is seven-foot-one, and THEY HAVE ALMOST THE SAME WINGSPAN! 7.275 inches to 7.225 inches.
Updated 1 hr ago
The cursed NBA draft pick
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Walter Clayton Jr. just got traded from Washington to Utah when Brooklyn and Miami were up next.
This is a truly cursed transaction.
Updated 53 mins ago
We want trades! We want trades!
By Bruce Arthur The Star
We’re into the part of the draft where there is a run of French players, and as someone who spent six weeks in France last year, I have no objection. What a country! Anyway, we are due for another trade. We demand another trade! Or another totally random selection! Is Brooklyn really taking five first-round players? They still have No. 22, 26, and 27! Come on!
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Updated 53 mins ago
Maybe the Hawks can trade the Pelicans for Bourbon Street
By Bruce Arthur The Star
Kasparas Jakučionis goes to Miami: that makes two big European point guards who might not be able to shoot who have been drafted, if you’re keeping score at home.
Meanwhile, the suddenly smart Atlanta Hawks have back-to-back picks coming up: maybe they can trade them to New Orleans for Bourbon Street and a dozen really good Cajun restaurants.
Updated 39 mins ago
Canadian Will Riley taken at No. 21 by Utah Jazz
By Bruce Arthur The Star
We have out first Canadian off the board: Will Riley of Illinois, who played some high school ball in London, On. He’s heading to the Utah Jazz, who were just called a draft winner by ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Riley was born in Kitchener, and only started nine games this year, but he has good feel, and some real upside. He’s going to Utah, and that can’t be helped, but good luck to him.
In case you missed it, here’s Libaan Osman’s feature on the 19-year-old Canadian:
Inside Will Riley’s journey to the NBA draft: Love from the Durant family, inspiration from Jamal Murray and a basketball addiction
Updated 24 mins ago
The terrible Brooklyn Nets are stocking up on guards
By Bruce Arthur The Star
We are into the weeds here, where picks either become trivia questions or more enjoyable trivia questions.
Brooklyn has now drafted three players: guard Egor Demin, guard Nolan Traoré, and guard-ish Drake Powell, who is a monster athlete: he had the highest vertical leap at 43-inches at the combine.
You might worry that Brooklyn is taking too many guards, but keep in mind, most of their players are terrible, so it doesn’t matter.
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Updated 17 mins ago
More minor trades trickle in, but blockbusters have dried up
By Bruce Arthur The Star
OKC trading a 23-year-old draft pick to Sacramento (Nique Clifford, Colorado State) seems like a guaranteed Not Win for Sacramento, but who knows.
Again: lots of player movement before the draft, but we haven’t seen a truly big trade tonight.
Oh, and Jase Richardson goes to Orlando, which is a team that could really use scorers wherever it can find them.
Read more on thepeterboroughexaminer.com
