The only good thing that comes from a disappointing season is a high draft pick, and the Toronto Raptors obtained that this past summer in the form of ninth overall selection Collin Murray-Boyles.
The 20-year-old, as any top 10 pick, is expected to eventually impact winning, and general manager Bobby Webster could see that happening on the defensive side of the ball right away.
“Very rarely do you see a rookie come in and impact the game in a positive way,” said Webster. “I think the one area where he can, and is probably the best way for rookies, is on the defensive end. He’s incredibly disruptive defensively, and we’ve seen that here in September, we saw it in college, we saw it at Summer League.
“So I think that would be the incentive for the coaching staff to put him in the game, but he’s got a long way to go. He’s still got a 20-year-old body; he hasn’t even been on a road trip in the NBA. But I think you’ll see on the defensive end where he’ll really make his impact and where he could play right away.”
With Murray-Boyles’ near 7-foot-1 wingspan and 239-pound frame, the rookie was viewed as one of, if not the best, defender in the 2025 draft class coming out of South Carolina. His scheme-versatility, lateral movement, physicality, and strong hands stood out with the Gamecocks. Murray-Boyles averaged 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks last season, while the team had a 105.7 defensive rating with Murray-Boyles on, and a 117.8 defensive rating with him off (97th percentile).
That translated to Summer League as well, where the rookie averaged 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks, while leading the team in rebounding by grabbing 5.5 boards across his four games played.
With a multitude of injuries over the past couple of seasons, another crop of rookies coming in, free agent signings and last year’s trade deadline acquisition, Brandon Ingram, all in the fold, there are a lot of moving parts for Murray-Boyles to try and find his way.
“The tough part is we didn’t get to see this team play,” said Webster. “If we get to see this team play, hopefully our group and I will more quickly be able to make those decisions. It’s difficult before you see Brandon with this group, before you see Colin play, before you see Darko [Rajakovic] have a team like this coach to say we’re gonna make a ton of changes.”
