Draft workout notes: Chinanu Onuaku, Guerschon Yabusele, Perry Ellis, and more

The Toronto Raptors held their latest set of pre-draft workouts with media availability on Wednesday, and if it feels like the process is being expedited on account of the team’s deep run into the playoffs, well, that’s because it is. You won’t catch the Raptors complaining about the quick turnaround from postseason to offseason, though, as they’re taking the Marlo Stanfield attitude.

“We kind of have been cramming a lot of workouts in in a much shorter window than we normally do,” said assistant general manager Dan Tolzman. “It’s honestly a really good problem to have. It means you’re playing longer than you’re used to.”

The compressed workout schedule has also carried over into the workouts themselves, with the Raptors opting to really push the pace and intensity in each of their six-man sessions.

“It was quick and precise. Just getting to it,” Perry Ellis said of the effort level required. “It’s definitely up there.”

Jama Mahlalela is the man tasked with running those workouts once again, and as a player development coach with a seemingly endless supply of energy, he’s a natural fit for the role.

“For me, I really enjoy doing it. Bringing energy, I love working with young athletes,” Mahlalela said. “They’re engaged, they’re giving you everything they have. They’re on the biggest job interview of their life.”

In terms of what, specifically, the Raptors are looking for in these workouts, it varies by player and by group. The Raptors know player strengths and weaknesses coming in, and the workouts are designed to show both and test the players in new or different situations to see how they respond. Even with the quick change from playoffs to workouts, the Raptors are pleased with how everything’s turning out so far.

“It’s amazing, this year, it happened right away,” Mahlalela said. “We’ve hit the ground running, and we’ve been rolling with them. We’ve been happy with the level of workouts, and the number of guys we’re getting. With multiple picks, obviously, there’s a lot of different choices that we’re going to have. As a coaching staff, we want to create a situation where our scouts and our evaluators can see the players in their best environment, and when we can showcase what we want to see and what we’re not sure of. Put that on display, and then these guys can make their decisions.”

As much as Mahlalela embraces and enjoys the opportunity, he occasionally has to reign himself in. What he sees as a coach is paramount to the process and can differ from the higher-level views that decision-makers may be getting in important ways, and finding the right balance between instruction and coaching is the key to getting the most out of the sessions for all involved.

“The coaches sometimes see different things than the front office does. We see something, maybe, where we gave them a little bit of instruction in the workout and they were able to get it right away. Or we see an avenue, where, oh, that could really be developed. Sometimes, I catch myself coaching them too much, as opposed to just letting them do what they’re supposed to do, and I’ve gotta stop myself, like, ‘No, they’re not mine yet, I can’t coach them too much yet, we’ve gotta slow down.'”

If and when they do become his to coach, the process allows for some rapport to have been built already, which is never a bad thing.

Player Notes

Here’s the full list of players who attended the workout:

Daniel Hamilton
Chad Ford Rank: 72, DraftExpress Rank: 78

Hamilton’s an interesting name, as he checks off some of the usual Raptors boxes from recent years but has a few major holes the team usually likes. With a 6-foot-9 wingspan, he’s long if the team sees him as a guard but less so if they like him as a forward, and he’d need to add a lot of strength to switch across wing spots. He’s also not much of a shooter yet, which, while the Raptors have often looked past, is more of a concern since he’s rather inconsistent defensively, too. He can really score, though, and offensively, it’s not hard to see him working with the ball in his hands and creating in a second unit, if everything else comes together. He’s also an elite rebounder for a wing. I’d be curious to see what he looks like a year from now if he gets some overseas or D-League refinement.

Kyle Collinsworth
Chad Ford Rank: 94, DraftExpress Rank: Unranked

If you believe Collinsworth is a point guard, then he’s got enough size to entice, as he’s 6-foot-7 and uses his body well to fight for rebounds against bigs. He’s also a smart, savvy playmaker who reads the game well, and his numbers at BYU were pretty terrific. The two sticking points for Collinsworth are age and jump shot. He’s already 24 (his eligibility was delayed due to a Mormon mission), and in four season, he’s never shown the ability to knock down a three. You can survive like that as a combo-guard, but you need to do a lot of other things well to make up for it. Some believe Collinsworth does (the playmaking really is quite good), and so he’s on the second-round radar as a help-now kind of guy. I’m not there, but if he slips through, the 905 sure could have used a point guard of this ilk last season.

Perry Ellis
Chad Ford Rank: 69, DraftExpress Rank: 68

Despite all of my instincts to make an age joke about the 1994 McDonald’s All-American, Ellis is somehow not the oldest prospect at the workout thanks to Collinsworth. Ellis is, however, experienced, and the Second-Team All-American is the type of player the Raptors targeted last season in the sense that his learning curve to the NBA level won’t be nearly as steep as some others. The question is where he plays, and, to be frank, whether he’s good enough despite that experience.  His scoring improved as a senior and he began to knock down a few threes at a good clip, and extending his range out to the NBA line will be huge if he’s to play both forward spots. As a four, he doesn’t have the greatest size, and his rebounding dipped a bit this season. He’s a smart player with some nice skill facing up in the mid-range, tested better than expected at the combine, and was really steady for two years at Kansas. Maybe that matters to a team that needs guys who can contribute if called upon.

“I feel like they had a great season. A great, great team. I love the way they play as a team together,” Ellis said of the Raptors, and how his experience level may make him a fit. “Playing four years at Kansas, I’ve gained so much confidence as a player, learned so much under Coach Self. I feel like it benefited me a lot.”

James Webb III
Chad Ford Rank: 54, DraftExpress Rank: 75

There is a lot of variance between prospect rankings even this late in the process, given how wide open the class is, but the disagreement on Webb stands out. As a 22-year-old sophomore (he went the JuCo route for a season), you’d hope for a guy who’s close to NBA-ready (if such a thing exists), and Webb isn’t quite that. He is, however, the type of long, wiry, multi-position wing the Raptors have liked as D-League targets, and as you’d expect, he’s very athletic and a threat in the open court. There’s also a belief that his sub-30-percent 3-point shooting betrays what’s actually not a bad jumper, and his performance was better as a freshman. Webb’s in a tough spot as someone who could probably use more time (he was pretty inconsistent) but might have been too old to risk going back another season.

Webb also had the best shoe game of any prospect to come in to BioSteel so far.

Guerschon Yabusele
Chad Ford Rank: 30, DraftExpress Rank: 34

The closest thing to someone on the first-round bubble in this group, the early-entrant from France jumped on to the radar at the 2015 adidas EUROCAMP (more on that in the notes below) but was only recently elevated from second-round consideration. At 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot wingspan, the 240-pounder maybe doesn’t have the size for the five, but he’s very strong and uses his body well to fight for rebounds and create space for himself. He might not have the length, but he definitely has the bulk for center, so it’s a matter of figuring out how to leverage one to account for the other so he’s not posted up and shot over. Failing that, he might have the range to play with a second big, and he moves pretty well for his size, though he’s still likely to be hit with “undersized” on a quick scouting report.

Yabusele’s a pretty interesting draft-and-stash target, and he’s a good example of what the Raptors may be looking for at the Eurocamp this year.

“Yeah, exactly. Perfect example of a guy that he was kind of put on the radar at that camp last year,” Tolzman said. “And every NBA team spent the season following him, and now he’s in this draft process.”

Chinanu Onuaku
Chad Ford Rank: 36, DraftExpress Rank: 38

A popular name in the comment threads for most of the season, Onuaku is the type of defensive prospect that seems like a fit. While he doesn’t have much of an offensive game to speak of yet, the Louisville product backs up a 6-foot-10, 240-pound frame with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and 9-foot-plus standing reach. He proved a terrific shot-blocker, rebounder, and all-around defender in his sophomore season, and his scoring improved as his role expanded. Considering he’s still just 19, there’s a lot to like here – he might be the best defensive big-man prospect in the class, even as a first-round bubble pick. Onuaku would leave the Raptors a little tenuous at the five in the event of a Jonas Valanciunas injury and the expected Bismack Biyombo departure, though Onuaku might fit in given some similarities with Biyombo in terms of playing style.

“Yeah, I did,” Onuaku admitted of noticing the potential fit. “Because that’s what I’m coming in as, is a defensive player.”

Assorted

*Among the names who worked out yesterday in a session that didn’t have media avaialbility was Isaia Cordinier. He’s a name I really like. The question with Cordinier, who probably needs another year of polish, is whether he’ll stay in the draft, whcih seems likely if he’s getting sniffs around the first-round bubble and is amenable to being stashed for a year. You should read this piece on Cordinier from friend of the site Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports, who should be on your must-read/follow list ahead of the draft.

*A few of the Raptors’ staff is off to Treviso, Italy, later this week for the 2016 adidas EUROCAMP, an annual scouting event founded by familiar face Maurizio Gheardini. Bill Bayno is the event’s coaching director, and Nick Nurse will be among those assisting at the camp. Per adidas, “Former participants include 82 first and second round draft picks…Thirty-seven former adidas EUROCAMP participants currently hold NBA contracts and 88 currently play in Euroleague Basketball.” So it’s a pretty big deal from a scouting perspective. At least three on-the-radar potential 2016 picks are participating in Petr Cornelie (France), Ante Zizic (Croatia) and Paul Zipser (Germany).

There’s more than just the benefit of getting to know players, though. The June 10-12 event helps the organization get a feel for the general quality of the prospect pipeline, which can help determine the value of current prospects and assets.

“Every year, it’s a good way to see the young crop of talent for future drafts,” Tolzman said. “All of those types of events give you an idea of how does the 2017 draft stack up to the 2016 draft, and it starts making you think of the bigger picture, as far as, how valuable are our picks this season compared to where they could be next year.”

It also acts as a sort of executive summit.

“It’s kind of more of a convention of higher-ups,” Tolzman said. “To kind of get away from the NBA media and what not, and they kind of reconvene over there. There’s a lot of trade discussions and things like that leading into the draft.”

*As a result of the trip, the Raptors won’t have any workouts until next week, and media availability remains to be determined. So far, they’ve brought in 33 players to BioSteel (only two of who register as potential top-10 picks), and, of course, they’ve surely done some off-site or private workouts that were kept quiet for a reason.

*ONE IMPORTANT NOTE ON THIS PROCESS: We’re going to hear a lot of names rumored or reported to be coming in/meeting/working out/etc. I’m not always going to pass them on, especially this early in the process. A lot of it is due diligence and doesn’t mean a ton (Jaylen Brown, for example), and they’re also just low-value posts (“Rumor: Player X to work out”). And sometimes there will be (good) reasons the team doesn’t want the names public. Obviously, feel free to comment and discuss those rumors (Hoops Hype is a good source for rumor aggregation) in the comments/forums, I just may not always throw a post up. Closer to the draft, that information becomes a little more important.