Raptors Explain Why They Dealt a 1st Round Pick During Rebuilding Season

Development is tough.

Look at Gradey Dick, for example. The Toronto Raptors thought he’d come in and be ready to make some sort of impact as the No. 13 pick in the NBA Draft. They thought he’d be a role player and someone who could help space the floor this season.

When that didn’t happen, Toronto hit the brakes, pausing Dick’s season, and investing a ton of time and resources into getting him more physically ready to play at the highest level.

Toronto is ready to do that again this summer, but let’s not overdo it, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said Thursday following the trade deadline.

It’s why the Raptors opted to move their least valuable first-round pick to the Utah Jazz for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji. The organization didn’t want to add three rookies this summer and figured it’d be better to offload a late first-round pick for a floor-spacing center and a 23-year-old sophomore just a year removed from being a lottery pick.

“I think the thought of three or four of (picks) felt like, hey, if we can cash in one of them now for someone like Ochai, who’s still young but early in his career, then you solidified one of those,” Webster said. “We kind of used it to get the type of player we would want to have gotten in the draft.”

The Raptors have known Agbaji for a while. His father and Raptors president Masai Ujiri have had a connection for years and that relationship certainly played a part in Agbaji being on Toronto’s radar.

While the first year and a half of Agbaji’s career haven’t been stellar by any means, Toronto thinks there’s some untapped potential in the 6-foot-5 defense-first guard.

“Hard working, high character, two-way player, kind of fits the bill of guys we’ve pursued over the years,” Webster said. “We feel like we’re getting a young player with a lot of upside. Hard worker, high character, and so we’ll bet on those guys.”

In Olynyk, a 6-foot-11 Canadian big, the Raptors get someone who wants to be in Toronto and shouldn’t be too difficult to re-sign. Stylistically, he gives the Raptors a look at what this young core would look like with a floor-spacing center. Sure, it would be nicer if he was 22, not 32, but 22-year-old three-point-shooting big men aren’t available for late first-round picks.

The trade was by no means a home run deal. Barring some unforeseen development from Agbaji, it’s unlikely he will develop into a high-end difference-maker for Toronto. But if he turns into a rotation player for the Raptors down the road and Olynyk is a low-cost veteran for Toronto moving forward, the Raptors should be thrilled. That’s a valuable return for a late first-round pick in a draft everyone considers to be well below average.