Pending free agency for Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry could complicate team’s plans for June draft | National Post

“We were actually talking the other day how we wish free agency happened before the draft. You’d have so much easier of a time. That’s part of the fun, I guess,” Raptors director of scouting Dan Tolzman said. “I think the biggest thing is to not make draft decisions based on your current roster and your current situation. You keep it in the back of your head. You’ll take it into account when you’re drafting players. But if the most talented guy or the highest guy on your list happens to be in a position where you’re loaded up, you can work something out later.”

Raptors Looking At Defense First In The Draft | Pro Bball Report

“I have always thought that if you could get defensive minded players that’s more important than offensive minded players because all of the (skills like) shooting and offensive-type principles, you can work on those, you can build on those, but the mentality of a defensive player, a lot of time, it’s ingrained,” Tolzman said. “If you get a guy who is not into playing defense or just doesn’t buy into that, that’s always tough to develop a guy like that to become a defensive player. Whereas, if you draft a guy who is a defensive guy – maybe his shot isn’t perfect or he doesn’t have the best ball handling skills – you can work on that. That is the whole idea of assistant coaches working on player development. Defense might be what gets him on the floor as a rookie because he busts his tail, because he isn’t afraid to mix it up defensively and all that other stuff will come over time and that’s where they develop into better players that way.”

Raptors Pre-Draft Workouts – Swingman-Fest Featuring McDaniels, Kane, McRae and Fair | Raptors HQ

Fair continues a bit of an interesting trend in this Raptors’ workout session: players who don’t seem to be a lock for a position at the next level. Like Daniels, Fair had great size in the NCAA but the big question is if he can become an effective wing option at the next level. His shooting has come a ways since his early days at ‘Cuse, but can he score at the next level? For a player who spent a lot of time on the blocks for Syracuse, he didn’t show much low-post game, and rather an assortment of turn-arounds and jump shots. He was tremendously effective with those moves, at times he was virtually unstoppable as an offensive weapon, but I wonder if he’ll be able to replicate said college success at the next level.

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