As the Raptors prepare for game three of the NBA Finals in Oakland, the team continued to evaluate prospects at OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto this morning in its fourth pre-draft work out with just over two weeks to go until the 2019 NBA Draft (reminder: the Raptors have pick #59). For what it’s worth, this particular group consisted of the most ESPN 100-ranked players to-date with Final Four standout Jared Harper and University of Kansas big man Dedric Lawson leading the charge.
For reference, Raptors Republic will refer to the ESPN NBA Draft Rankings below. The full list of players who participated in today’s workouts are as follows:
Name | Position | Height | Weight | School | Hometown |
Jalen Adams | Guard | 6-2 | 195 lbs | UConn | Roxbury, MA |
Kyle Allman | Guard | 6-3 | 182 lbs | Cal State Fullerton | Brooklyn, NY |
Jared Harper | Guard | 5-11 | 175 lbs | Auburn | Mableton, GA |
Dedric Lawson | Forward | 6-9 | 235 lbs | Kansas | Memphis, TN |
William McDowell-White | Guard | 6-5 | 182 lbs | Bamburg (Germany) | Brisbane, Australia |
Dean Wade | Forward | 6-10 | 228 lbs | Kansas State | Saint John, KS |
Jalen Adams
ESPN Rank: N/A
Jalen Adams is a talented scorer with a crafty inside game and outside game, finishing his senior year with UConn averaging 16.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in the 2018-19 campaign. Adams wrapped up his career with UConn as the 10th all-time leading scorer, finishing with 1,706 points – 77 shy of former Huskies star Kemba Walker.
Kyle Allman
ESPN Rank: N/A
Allman was named All-Big West First Team and NABC All-District 9 Second Team in both 2018 and 2019 while also winning the 2018 Big West Tournament MVP. The six-foot-three guard averaged 17.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in his senior year this past season and finished his Cal State Fullerton career as the fifth all-time leading scorer while becoming the player to have played the most games (127) in school history.
Jared Harper
ESPN Rank: 62
At only five-foot-11, Jared Harper has been a key piece in the rebuild of Auburn’s program while leading the team on a surprising Final Four run this season, where he had a breakout performance of 26 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals to help the Tigers advance to the semi-finals. Harper became only the third player in the school’s history to reach 1,000 career points and 500 assists, according to AL.com. Harper possesses a lethal combination of speed, court vision, and a solid shooting capability – a quality he’s steadily improved year-over-year in his three seasons with the university. Harper’s well-rounded guard play is shown in his stats in his junior year: 15.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.5 3-pointers made, and 1.1 steals per game in the 2018-19 season.
Dedric Lawson
ESPN Rank: 65
Dedric Lawson is an athletic six-foot-nine forward that isn’t fully a big but also not quite a wing player. There’s the concern of how his dominating play at the collegiate level can translate, and there’s also the “not big enough to guard NBA power forwards, but not quick enough to defend wings” argument. But Lawson has proved his critics wrong before, after transferring to the higher-level Big 12 Conference from the AAC following two seasons with Memphis, where Lawson averaged 19.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in the 2018-19 season with strong shooting percentages including 49.0 FG%, 39.3 3P%, and 81.5% at the free throw line.
William McDowell-White
ESPN Rank: N/A
William McDowell-White is an Australian professional point guard who most recently played for Baunach (Germany). McDowell-White, known for his strong IQ and playmaking ability, declared for the 2018 NBA Draft but eventually withdrew his name. The six-foot-five guard entered this most recent season ranked in the ESPN 100 list but then suffered a foot injury in November which caused him to miss significant time, according to an ESPN report. McDowell-White averaged 13 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in the 2017-18 season for Baunach and hopes to join his fellow Australians in the NBA including Ben Simmons, Joe Ingles, and Patty Mills.
Dean Wade
ESPN Rank: 82
At six-foot-ten, Dean Wade is a sizeable forward who can run the floor, shoot the three, finish around the rim, while having the ability to handle the ball on fast breaks. Wade was named All-Big 12 First Team by league coaches and The Associated Press in 2019 where he averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his senior season with the Wildcats. Despite have strong seasons in the past two years, Wade suffered a left foot injury in 2018, and a right foot injury in 2019, forcing him to miss the postseason in both instances.
