Despite bigger names still on the board, the Toronto Raptors were on-brand in last night’s drafted and selected the relatively unknown Dewan Hernandez with their 59th pick. Hernandez is an extremely athletic big, but he’s certainly a raw project, in terms of skill development. If Hernandez stays with the Raptors through the summer and training camp, it’s quite likely that he’ll see the majority of his minutes with the Raptors 905 next season. In that department, he won’t be alone.
Since the draft, Toronto is reported to have invited undrafted free agents Lindell Wigginton and Sagaba Konate to Summer League.
After going undrafted, Lindell Wigginton has signed a deal with the Toronto Raptors, per source.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 21, 2019
The Toronto Raptors have agreed to a deal with Sagaba Konate (West Virginia), a league source told @TheAthleticNBA.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) June 21, 2019
Though the terms and nature of the offers have not yet been released, Wigginton and Konate will likely compete for the last few Raptors roster spots, two-way contracts, and 905 spots. Wigginton is from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where his athleticism and scoring ability is something of a legend. (I’m from Halifax, so that’s how I’m aware of local basketball legends.)
Wigginton is 21 years old and an explosive scorer from the guard position. After scoring 16.7 points per game in his rookie year for Iowa State, he averaged only 13.5 as a sophomore. His minutes dropped, and he started only two games this year. Still, he’s a good shooter with impressive vertical leap. At 6-foot-2, he’s on the small side for a shooting guard, and he doesn’t have the handles or passing vision of a point guard. He’s a project, but he could become a solid scorer in the G-League next year.
Konate attended West Virginia, where he averaged 13.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. He’s a big body, listed at 250 pounds and 6-foot-8, but at the next level he’ll be more of an undersized center than a forward. He is 22 years old, which continues the trend of the Raptors searching out players who aren’t traditionally young enough to be projects. But because Konate only started playing basketball in 2014, it’s likely that there’s plenty of room for his skills to develop. An early season knee injury limited him to only eight games in 2018-19.
In Hernandez, Wigginton, and Konate, the Raptors have started the process of refilling the end of their NBA and G League rosters for the 2019-20 season. The championship is firmly in the rear view mirror as the Raptors are back to business.
