Tonight is the night Toronto Raptors’ fans have been waiting for since the season ended one month ago on May 16th.
The NBA Draft lottery is here, and to sort through it all, Raptors Republic’s “The Rap Up” is hosting a live Youtube show starting at 8:00pm (the lottery will start at 8:30pm), where Oren Weisfeld and Sahal Abdi will be reacting to the lottery results and analyzing where the Raptors stand after lottery night. They might even have a few guests join them. Join the live show on the Raptors Republic Youtube channel.
Tonight marks the first time since 2012 — when the Raptors got the No. 8 pick and selected Terence Ross — that Raptors are in the lottery and have the seventh best odds at getting the No. 1 overall pick. In fact, the Raptors enter the night with a 7.5 percent chance of landing the top pick and in all likelihood Cade Cunningham, a 7.8 percent chance at the No. 2 pick, an 8.1 percent chance at the No. 3 pick, and an 8.5 percent chance at the No. 4 pick. Overall, they have a 31.9 percent chance at landing a top-4 pick in a draft that has a clear top-4 players, who are all elite prospects in their own right.
The Raptors also have a chance of sliding down in the draft. While they have a 19.8 percent chance of sticking with the No. 7 pick, they have a 33.9 percent chance of falling to No. 8, a 13.0 percent chance of falling to No. 9, and a 1.4 percent chance of falling to No. 10.
It’s safe to say that tonight has massive implications for the Toronto Raptors, who finished the 2020-21 season with the seventh worst record in the NBA but will bring back a core that believes it can compete for a championship. What happens in the draft will likely determine how the front office approaches the offseason, including whether they try to build a contender or focus on development, because the top of the draft contains legitimate difference makers, whereas the drop-off after the top-4 contains players who likely need some more time to develop before they can contribute to a winning team.
To sort through it all, join The Rap Up tonight on the Raptors Republic Youtube channel at 8:00pm EST.
