The Toronto Raptors held their final pre-draft workout with media availability on Tuesday, and both names that were on hand are pretty interesting.
Ivica Zubac will be the player whose visit gets a little more buzz, as his stock, while all over the place, has occasionally had him in the mix in the lottery (Chad Ford mentioned the Bulls at No. 14 as a possibility. He’s presently slated by DraftExpress to go in that middle area between No. 9 and No. 27 – the weird group that the Raptors haven’t been able to work out entirely, due to a mix of factors – but there was also a time when he was off the radar entirely, and the impression is that he stands as a potential first-round pick because of the option to draft-and-stash him (four teams have multiple first-round picks, the Raptors among them). The Raptors may think Zubac could slide to No. 27, and they may be one of the teams that likes him better than Ante Zizic (who has a similar draft range).
On Tuesday, Zubac was going toe-to-toe with Diamond Stone, who became just the third prospect to visit BioSteel Centre for a second time. Like with Dorian Finney-Smith and Stefan Jankovic before him, it’s a good sign for Stone that the team either wanted another look or trusted him to come in and really push Zubac.
“Diamond is a great player, so we went hard at each other and proved what we can do on the court,” Zubac said. “I’m really satisfied. I think we did a great job.”
From here, it’s on to deciding on a draft board for the Raptors. Over the last few days, individuals have been putting together their boards, and the staff will now try to come to some sort of agreement on a big board, the tiers associated, and potential contingencies.
“We like it. We like 9. My guys are all over the place,” general manager Masai Ujiri said Tuesday. “I call it All Over The Place Monday, that was yesterday. So I’ll see what they have today.”
With the draft so wide open after No. 8 and the Raptors open to dealing the pick, Thursday very much has an “anything can happen” kind of feel. And that includes a potential trade, though it sounded more likely that the Raptors would wait to see if anyone slides before pulling the trigger (and other teams may want to wait, too, especially with multiple teams reportedly shopping their lottery picks). There’s also the option I’ve outlined where the Raptors use the pick and then retain it as trade bait into the summer, when more salary cap options open up. In any case, a trade is possible.
“Yes. It’s something I’m entertaining,” Ujiri said. “We’re talking to a few teams. We’ll see how that part plays. Right now, it’s Have All The Options On Your Board Tuesday…You never know who slips, so a deal that you’re doing before has to be something that makes sense for us.”
For now, they have both picks, and a pair of options had what sounded like a fun workout.
Player Notes
Here’s the full list of players who attended the workout:
| Ivica Zubac | Centre | 7-1 | Croatia |
| Diamond Stone | Centre | 6-10 | Maryland |
Ivica Zubac
Chad Ford Rank: 25, DraftExpress Rank: 16
The first thing that jumps out about Your Boy the Zubac is his size, which, yeah, is ample. Listed at 7-foot-1, measuring with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, and already tipping the scales at 265 pounds, Zubac, it’s easy to see Zubac adjusting to the physical style of the NBA in time. The fact that he has a back-to-the-basket game and can score inside makes him somewhat of a relic, and if he can learn to use his size and embrace that physicality, he could be a problem for opposing defenses. There’s some difficulty projecting that size and skill given his limited exposure with Mega Leks in the Adriatic League, but in those minutes, he was highly effective around the rim. There’s definite room for refinement and role expansion, and despite being touted as a high-IQ player, he totaled just 11 assists in 397 minutes this year. Zubac has a lot to like offensively, he just may need a bit more experience.
For now, at least contrasted to Zizic, Zubac doesn’t quite play as tough or rebound as well. And naturally, for a player this size – one who has lower-body injuries on his record, too – mobility on defense is a potential concern. The Raptors may believe another year abroad could serve the 19-year-old well, physically, or they could trust their staff’s ability to develop his functional conditioning in similar ways to how they’ve handled the growth of Jonas Valanciunas and, down the road, Sim Bhullar. That’s not to say Zubac is out of shape, or anything (he did mention the cardio aspect of the workout was the most difficult, but that’s a Toronto trademark), but the Raptors would need to be comfortable he can become a passable defender, because there aren’t a ton of guys left against whom his size defending in the post will matter.
In terms of coming over, Zubac would prefer to come sooner than later, and his deal reportedly has friendly buyout terms.
“Yes,” Zubac said when I asked if he was looking to show that he’s ready now. “I want to come right away. I want to prove that in workouts. I think I proved that I’m ready…I’m really excited. Since 11, when I started playing, that was my dream, to come to the NBA.”
Diamond Stone
Chad Ford Rank: 32, DraftExpress Rank: 31
As mentioned, Stone was here earlier, back on June 6, and you can click there to read a bit more about Stone and that session. It might be telling that the Raptors have brought Stone in now for workouts against centers ranked slightly higher than him in Zubac and Damian Jones – that would seem to indicate the Raptors are high on Stone, or at least trust that what he brings to a workout is a good way to test other skilled bigs.
There’s no bad way to spin it, and Stone is growing hopeful that he’s a fit with the Raptors, particularly with head coach Dwane Casey.
“It was a blessing,” Stone said. “I was really looking forward to working out here. I really love Coach Casey, and hopefully the Raptors pick me. I’m really anxious, hopefully I come to Toronto…He’s a great coach. He’s a really good man and good person, too. I can see him changing me into a better person, on and off the court.”
He also stands as a nice comparison point for Zubac, doing a lot of the things well already that some hope for from Zubac. He’s similarly sized at 6-foot-10 and 254 pounds with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, and while his range is still developing (something he’s trying to do to make his game less predictable, he can really score in the post. He has terrific footwork, uses his size well to create space, and can pass effectively from the block (something he says was under-utilized at Maryland). Like Zubac, there are some concerns about his athleticism, but in Stone’s case, he has a track record of rebounding well and blocking shots.
Stone felt he managed to show all of that today, too, saying he peaked in what was his 10th or 11th workout despite any fatigue.
“I feel like this was the best workout I’ve had so far,” Stone said. “I feel like today, I showed everything…I showed I have stamina, I showed I have a high motor, I showed I can be an elite defender.”
Assorted
*This brings the total number of players the Raptors brought in to BioSteel (or Buffalo) to 59, only five of who really register as even fringe potential top-10 picks (Richardson, Poeltl, Labissiere, Sabonis, Ellenson), and only three of who have come in for multiple workouts (Stone, Finney-Smith, Jankovic). Of course, they’ve surely done some off-site or private workouts that were kept quiet for a reason, and as I’ve tried to stress, the in-house workouts are only one part of a very long, in-depth process.
Don’t worry about who wasn’t here or why the Raptors cast such a wide net for No. 27 and potential free agent targets – that information never hurts to have, and it’s time well-spent. Sometimes it’s just tough to get players in for individual workouts, and the Raptors have tried to maximize their time by bringing in a boatload of players who were willing. And if there are names you like that are missing from the workout list, that could also be a byproduct of the fact that there are maybe 10 players who would be a reach at nine and will be off the board at 27.
“Guys, they tell us, ‘Well, you’re not picking our guy at nine and he’s not getting to you at 27,’ so it’s tough sometimes to bring guys in,” Ujiri said.
You can check out the full list of players the Raptors worked out here.
*Semi-related, I’m told Taurean Prince was originally scheduled to work out in Toronto but had to cancel. These things happen all the time, so there’s nothing to be made of it. It’s also why the team doesn’t bother announcing player lists until the day before each workout. Anyway, someone asked me about it, so there you go.
*One possible indicator of who’s in the mix at nine: The NBA released the list of players invited to the green room for draft night. Generally, these are players who have a good shot at going in the lottery and aren’t likely to slide out of the first round. This year’s list: Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, Kris Dunn, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Buddy Hield, Jaylen Brown, Dejounte Murray, Domantas Sabonis, Henry Ellenson, Jakob Poeltl, Skal Labissiere, Malachi Richardson, Deyonta Davis, and Wade Baldwin. Some of these names have varying mock draft ranks, but they’re all in Ford’s top 18 (and DraftExpress’ top 37) for rankings. The league since added Malik Beasley, Timothe Luwawu, and Denzel Valentine to that list, too.
*I’ll publish my own personal rankings list tomorrow. I may also do a mailbag, so if you have questions, please tweet them to me (don’t leave them in the comments).
*Norman Powell, Lucas Nogueira, and Delon Wright were at the facility working out. There were also a bunch of potential D-League prospects working out, including 905 point guard Ashton Smith and Devoe Joseph.
Bebe, Norm, and Delon here working out again pic.twitter.com/QWInComnqZ
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) June 21, 2016
*Ujiri on the Raptors’ situation: “It’s difficult sometimes. First of all, we’re blessed to have that pick, the ninth pick, and also our pick, 27. We’re not complaining at all. It’s great for us to have these two – they’re not players yet, so I can call them assets…When you think about the asset, we’re blessed to have them.”
*Ujiri on the different options and strategies available to the Raptors: “To me, it’s not difficult. You continue to narrow and narrow, and now, if you have a bunch of guys, you can look at different options. You can look at trading the pick, you can look at drafting a guy who doesn’t come right away, you can look at a player that you can draft and develop slowly. We just feel that it’s a great position for us to be. I don’t know if it’s a draft where we can get somebody that can impact our team right away. We have to take that aside and then look at it, sometimes, in a different way. Is it a player that’s three or four years down the road, and that player has a high upside? We have to look out for the organization that way.”
*Thursday’s going to be a ton of fun. I’m really excited, even if the pick ends up getting moved. The draft is one of the very best days on the NBA calendar.
