Raptors May Benefit From NBA Draft Uncertainty

The only thing clear about tomorrow night's NBA Draft is just how unclear things are.

With just over 24 hours to go before Adam Silver opens the 2020 Draft, there is still no clear first overall pick. After that, the top five picks remain pretty murky and we haven't even exited the lottery.

For Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster that uncertainty has become the primary feature of this year's draft.

"I think there’s just a ton of uncertainty in the middle of the draft and I kind of feel that and sense that maybe different than in years past," Webster said. "There’s just a large chunk of guys in the middle here that it’s really hard to pick where are they going to go. Maybe we have a guy at 10 who goes 40 and maybe they have a guy [at] 40 who goes 10."

In some ways that uncertainty couple benefit the Raptors who sit at No. 29 and could come away with someone that they had projected going much higher in the draft. They've worked out players like Malachi Flynn and Jaden McDaniels who are projected to go 21st and 24th in the draft, according to Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo, and they've interviewed players like Stanford's Tyrell Terry, projected to go 19th overall.

Alternatively, it's also possible the Raptors miss on most of their ideal prospects and are left sitting at No. 29 without a prospect they're particularly fond of.

"There's typically about 20 guys who make it and 40 who don't," Webster said. "So the goal is always to find who those are. I think obviously you have some really talented guys at the top. But I think the thing that defines this draft is I'm not sure 10-40 is very well defined."

Once the draft is over, there's expected to be a robust and quick developing undrafted free agent market for teams to dip into. Without Summer League this year and just over a month between the draft and the start of next season, teams won't have much time to make decisions on undrafted prospects.