NBA's New 2-Day Draft May Have Biggest Impact on Raptors
The 31st pick in the NBA Draft may suddenly be a little more valuable.
The league will announce a new two-day draft format with the first round and second rounds taking place over June 26 and 27, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday. The decision gives the second round more time to breathe with the allotted time between picks expanding from two minutes per pick to five minutes.
If the season ended today, it would be the Toronto Raptors opening Day 2 of the draft with the 31st pick courtesy, a pick Toronto acquired from Detroit via the OG Anunoby trade with the New York Knicks.
With a full day between rounds, the Raptors will now have more time to consider what to do with the pick before the second round kicks off. In theory, there will be more time to consider trade options if there’s a coveted player still on the board to open the second round.
It’s unlikely Toronto uses all its draft picks this year with at least three picks scheduled in the first 31 selections. The Raptors also have Indiana’s first-round pick, currently No. 19, as well as another pick from either Oklahoma City or the Los Angeles Clippers that currently sits at No. 26.
Toronto could also keep its top-six protected first-round pick this year, giving the organization as many as four draft picks this year. Raptors president Masai Ujiri has made it clear he doesn’t plan on adding three rookies in the offseason and therefore some sort of trade should be expected.
Canadian Andrew Nembhard, Nic Claxton, and Bojan Bogdanovic are among the most notable players selected at No. 31 over the past 25 years.
