With the 2022 NBA approaching on June 23rd, we want to take a look back at the Raptors draft history; giving a bit of an accounting of the state of the Raptors, what we thought of the pick in the moment and in retrospect. Each day we will examine the Raptors significant pick(s) and additions in each draft, and frame it in the context of what was going on during that year. You can find all the pieces in this draft history project here.
The State of The Raptors Heading Into The Draft
This was the dawn of the Wince Carter era. From a raw ability perspective, VC was every bit as talented and athletic as say a Kobe Bryant. Never ever was that ever ever in question. Ever.
Offensively, things just came easy to him. His shot was beautiful. Solid handles. The athleticism was legendary. His lack of grit was a huge issue. He never had that alpha in him, which is why the Tracy McGrady loss was so devastating cause you saw the alpha in him. Always felt like Carter was happy being a number two, and would have been a great one behind McGrady.
We never heard the things we heard about DeMar DeRozan and Scottie Barnes with respect to the work ethic and their off-season training regimens. We never saw him chisel his body by hitting the gym. To his credit, he had a solid 20-year career — and he knew how to keep himself useful for a long, long time. But when the chips were down and he had the skills and athleticism to do it, he wasn’t the guy.
The season started with a bit of a hangover; after taking the Sixers to Game 7 of the second round (the Sixers went on to lose to the Lakers in the finals), the Raptors dropped their first two games, then had a pattern of winning three or four games, then losing two. Ok, fine. The defense was great, but the offense was slow and mechanical. Vince got his, but it all felt a bit hollow.
There was enough uninspiring play that we all tilted our heads and furrowed our brows in confusion. With the Raptors sitting with a 29-25 record, Vince goes down.
With VC out, the Raptors immediately go on a 1-17 losing streak, kicking that off with 13 consecutive losses. A third consecutive playoff birth seemed a long shot, but Antonio Davis put the Raptors on his back, and they won 12 of the last 14 games, pushing us into a first-round match against the Pistons.
They put up 63 points in the first game — a loss. The second game they came out of half flat — another loss. The third and fourth games they got out to early leads and held on. The fifth and deciding game was a rock fight, and they just didn’t have enough horses to pull it out. Maybe if they hadn’t given losses away already in the series.
Wow. A kick to the groin and a complete 180 from how we felt this time last year. The momentum had decidedly shifted.
From a roster perspective, notable moves included:
July 18, 2001
Traded Charles Oakley and a 2002 second-round draft pick (Jason Jennings was later selected) to the Chicago Bulls for Brian Skinner.
Traded Alejandro Rebraka to the Detroit Pistons for a 2002 second-round draft pick (Rasual Butler was later selected) and a 2002 second-round draft pick (Tito Maddox was later selected).
– Oakley was old AF and useless, and it cost us a second rounder to unload his contract (about $5.5m, he was the highest paid Raptor at the time).
August 2, 2001
Traded a 2002 first-round draft pick (Bokie Nachbar was later selected) and a 2002 second-round draft pick (Tito Maddox was later selected) to the Houston Rockets for Hakeem Olajuwon.
– Vince pushed for this trade and Grunwald obliged. By this point, we were adding a 39-year-old Olajuwon to an already old team. Dude couldn’t move and retired by the end of the year. It was sad to see and harder to watch.
September 28, 2001
Signed Carlos Arroyo as a free agent.
– Desperately needed a PG, Arroyo wasn’t the answer, but he was fine for what he was. Not good though.
October 26, 2001
As part of a three-team trade, the Toronto Raptors traded Brian Skinner to the Cleveland Cavaliers; the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Chris Gatling to the Miami Heat; the Miami Heat traded Ricky Davis to the Cleveland Cavaliers; and the Miami Heat traded Don MacLean and cash to the Toronto Raptors.
– … at least we got some cash?
October 29, 2001
Waived Don MacLean.
– LOL
June 26, 2002
Drafted Kareem Rush in the first round (20th pick) of the 2002 NBA Draft.
Traded Tracy Murray, Kareem Rush and a 2003 second-round draft pick (Luke Walton was later selected) to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lindsey Hunter, Chris Jefferies and a 2003 second-round draft pick (Ramon Van de Hare was later selected).
– LMFAO
Grunwald literally traded the Raptors into an older, worse version of the previous years team. The writing was on the wall.
The Draft
Another weak draft with four All Stars and about 11-12 useful players (Yao, Amare Stoudamire, Carlos Boozer, and Caron Butler were the best of them). Nowadays, there are useful NBA players to be found up and down the draft, and then once it ends, too. Not so much in 2002.
Rush was a solid college player who led the Big-12 in scoring. Uhm…yea.
In The Moment
We drafted a young guard with some promise, then flipped him for an older veteran guard who came into the league as the next Isiah Thomas. He wasn’t. He was fine, but uninspiring. Lasted 30 games. Jeffries was trash and only lasted two years in the league. The concept behind the series of moves was nonsense, and it played out that way, too. Not that there was a better option, anyway.
What It Meant For The Raptors
The draft meant nothing for the Raptors as the 2002 NBA Draft was a top-three worst draft of all time. Holding on to Kareem Rush wouldn’t have moved the needle as he was fourth guard off the far end the bench material. There were a very small handful of good NBA players left on the board at 22, including Tayshaun Prince. Rush wasn’t one of them.
The damage was done at this point by the roster management. You thought the Dragic for Thad (and moving back in this years draft) trade was bad? Everything Grunwald did this season was infinitely worse….AND we lost Keon Clark to his demons. There was no thru-line, no master plan informing every idea. It was just a flurry of darts t
The darkness that was knocking at the door at the end of last season was invited in with open arms. I’m legit depressed rehashing this.
