The Toronto Raptors were the team to watch coming into the 2024 NBA draft. Having traded the old guard away in the season, Toronto is on the ground floor of their rebuild. The best place to add talent for a rebuild is through the draft. While the Raptors did miss out on the chance to add a lottery talent as they lost their pick to the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto still had four chances to add some needed talent. They held the 19th, 31st, 45th, and 57th overall picks in this year’s draft.
The Raptors were very active on draft day. They acquired a former lottery pick, a Euro-League MVP, the 45th pick in this year’s draft, and a 2025 second-round pick. The Raptors traded Jalen McDaniels to the Sacramento Kings for Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov, the 45th pick in the draft, who became Jamal Shead, and a 2025 second-round pick from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mitchell will bring point-of-attack defense and backup ball handling. He is still just 25 years old with room to grow. Vezenkov struggled in his first year in the league but is a former Euro-League MVP who can shoot the rock and has size at six-foot-nine. All they had to give up was McDaniels, who looked awful during his time with the Raptors. Toronto didn’t stop there, acquiring the 57th pick in the draft from the Timberwolves. The Raptors used the pick to select Ulrich Chomche.
Trade grades: A
The six-foot-five 19-year-old combo guard out of Baylor showed out in his freshmen year. Ja’Kobe Walter averaged 14.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 steals and was named the Big 12 Freshmen of the Year. Walter brings a dynamic off-ball shooting threat, being able to launch it from deep, no matter the defense. He excels as a movement shooter, running off pin-down screens to get open and using his quick trigger to let it fly. Walter does a good job of drawing fouls and getting to the line, where he shoots about five free throws per game. Walter has shown real defensive upside, using his six-foot-10 wingspan to poke balls loose from behind or disrupt passing lanes. However, he will need to improve his inside finishing, shooting just 42.3% on twos. But with his combo of size and shooting, he projects to be a solid 3-and-D player.
Draft grade: B+
The six-foot-eight 23-year-old forward/center has a unique skill set, which he showed last year with San Francisco. Jonathan Mogbo averaged 14.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks and was named Western Coast Conference All-Confernce First Team. Mogbo does a bit of everything, being able to handle the ball in the open court, pass in the half court, finish above the rim, and rebound the ball on both ends. He offers a unique defensive weapon with a nice combination of leaping ability, lateral quickness, and a seven-foot-two wingspan. Mogbo hasn’t shown an ability to space the floor from three. However, he did shoot 69.2% from the free throw line, which shows some ability to develop a jump shot. Mogbo is undersized as a backup five and will need to add some weight to hang down low with the league’s giants.
Draft grade: C+
Shead is a 22-year-old six-foot-one guard out of Houston. Shead averaged 12.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.2 steals and was named to the All-American First Team. He makes his money on the defensive end, being a ball hawk who will pressure the ball full court for 48 minutes. His hands are very active, always looking to force turnovers by swiping down on the ball or jumping passing lanes. Shead is a great playmaker in the half-court and excels working out of the pick-and-roll. His scoring game is somewhat limited, not being a great outside shooter or a crafty shot-maker in the halfcourt. However, he did connect on 77.9% of his free throws and is a willing three-point shooter. The main area of concern is simply his size.
Draft grade: C
Chomche is an 18-year-old six-foot-10 center out of Cameroon. In three games with the NBA Academy Africa, he put up 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and one steal per game. Chomche has a ton of upside on both ends of the court but has shown the most polish on the defensive side. He has a seven-foot-four wingspan and is very mobile for a guy his size. He shows the ability to guard smaller players in space. Chomche has shown great shot-blocking instincts and, with a 35-inch vertical, should be a threat on both ends. He is still incredibly raw on the offensive side of the ball, having been playing basketball for less than 10 years. He has shown a willingness to shoot the three-ball and hits 75% of his attempts from the free-throw line. Chomche will need time to develop, but the Raptors are not in a rush to play him.
Draft grade: A
The Raptors entered the draft with some major holes on the roster: size, shooting, and a backup guard. They addressed all of these areas in the draft or through trades. Walter brings size and shooting and has a defensive upside. Mogbo adds some needed size at the forward position and has a unique skill set on both sides of the court. Shead has shown to be a dog on the defensive side and has real guard skills to help run a bench unit. Chomche is still very raw, but the upside is there, and he adds the needed size to the team’s pipeline. Overall, Toronto got good value for their picks and filled the gaps in their roster.
Final grade: B+
