The Best Players in Raptors History and Where They Were Drafted

 If you haven't noticed by now, I am sick of the tanking nonsense that has been sweeping the league this year. Evidently front offices, who are smarter than me, all believe this Cooper Flagg is generational enough to forego building a culture this year. Teams around the league are benching healthy starters, pulling guys late in close games and generally trying to suck for the chance to land a guy that could run their team for a decade. The dream is great, but with all these teams tanking, only 1 of them is going to end up with that dude. With that in mind, I wanted to try and calm the fanbase down by going over the best players the Raptors have ever had and discussing where they were drafted. I am going to use the top players by win shares for the Raptors to try and stay unbiased, but obviously guys with shorter stints like Kawhi are going to be left off this list.

#1 Kyle Lowry - 24th Overall 

The (undisputed?) GROAT Kyle Lowry was picked 24th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. Now obviously this is a bit of a weird one, the Raptors didn't draft him and when they traded for him there was no indication that he was going to go on to become the greatest player in franchise history, but that's the point of this exercise. In sports guys pop out of random places all the time. The fact that Kyle was drafted 24th, bounced around the league a bit and had people straight up not believe in him made him what he was. Until someone else wins a championship here, in my mind Kyle is going to always be the best player in franchise history and he wasn't even a lottery pick.

#2 Chris Bosh - 4th Overall 

Is anyone else surprised that Chris Bosh has more win shares than DeMar DeRozan? It's a flawed stat for sure, but it really speaks to Bosh' impact on both ends of the floor on an otherwise pretty miserable Raptors team. This is a guy that the pro-tank people will point to saying that even if you don't get the #1 pick, a top 5 pick has a great shot of yielding a hall of famer. There's a decent argument to be made that this draft has tons of talent at the top, if the Raptors keep losing and end up with a guy at this level who wouldn't be thrilled? 

#3 DeMar DeRozan - 9th Overall

This is my favorite one, the homegrown player that launched the best era in Raptors history was drafted 9th overall. This is actually the range I think the Raptors would be in if they decide to stop the shenanigans and just play the season out. Obviously every 9th overall pick isn't going to turn into a top 30 scorer of all time, but it goes to show that great talent can still be found at the end of the lottery. Why not trust the front office that's proven time and time again they can find guys no matter where they pick? 

#4 Vince Carter - 5th Overall

Honestly I wasn't expecting Vince to be 4th overall in win shares, but considering he isn't even top 10 in games played, I guess that makes sense. If Vince didn't leave the Raptors on such bad terms, he'd be a lot more people's undisputed GROAT. He did recently get his number retired and has been pretty fun on some of the Raptors' broadcasts this season, so the relationship has certainly mended. Anyway, the Raptors got a superstar 5th overall way back in 1998. While this would be seen as the Raptors getting terrible lottery luck today, you really just don't know how these guys will pan out. Imagine the Raptors win the lottery in 1998 and take Michael Olowokandi, the first overall pick that year, would we even still have a franchise? 

#5 Pascal Siakam - 27th Overall

Masai's best draft steal ever? I remember when Pascal was picked 27th there were people upset that we didn't take Skal Labissiere with that pick. Lets remind people who the lottery picks were in the 2016 draft: first pick was Ben Simmons, who's about to be out of the league. Second pick is Brandon Ingram, now a Raptor but still widely believed to be a slightly worse player than Siakam, though I am optimistic that will be proven wrong next season. Third pick is Jalen Brown, finals MVP no hate there. 4th overall was Dragan Bender, yes Dragan Bender. 5 Khris Dunn, 6 Buddy Hield, 7 Jamal Murray, 8 Marquese Chriss, 9 Jakob Poeltl, 10 Thon Maker. Out of the top 10 picks in the draft, how many today would you prefer over #27 Pascal Siakam? Realistically only Jalen Brown has that argument, showing the draft is a total crapshoot. 

#6 Jonas Valanciunas  - 5th overall

JV! Ok this is admittedly a weird one, JV is a throwback bang in the post type of center that entered the league probably 10 years too late. He still carved out a very good career and was a key piece on some of the best teams in Raptors history. It is weird though because if a player like JV were to enter the draft today, is he even a lottery pick? It's hard to say that the Raptors might land a similar caliber player with a 5th overall pick because I doubt the Raptors draft a guy like this 5th overall in today's NBA, but still the Raptors reward for finishing 22-60 in 2011 was Jonas Valanciunas, all due respect to JV but fans today would riot. 

#7 Jose Calderon - Undrafted 

Ok admittedly we're past the star level players at this stage of the list, but before Kyle came along, Calderon was the best point guard in franchise history and a quality starter in the NBA for a long time. Getting a guy like this without a draft pick is something Masai Ujiri has done very well over his tenure. Yes the Raptors need a star, but nobody in the draft is guaranteed to be that, being able to accumulate solid talent on your roster gives you the flexibility to go out and get a star with a trade, something Masai has shown he can do as well. The 7th best player in Raptors history by win shares didn't even require a draft pick to go get. 

#8 Amir Johnson - 56th Overall 

Again, a guy who's not a superstar, but how good would Amir look in today's NBA. A do it all forward/center with good mobility is someone who could carve out a rotation spot in any era of basketball. This is yet another example of how the Raptors don't necessarily need a top pick, yes it's lucky to have the 56th overall pick turn into a rotation player, but the Raptors have done things like this before and I believe they can and will do it again. The only championship was built off of getting guys of Amir's quality so they could have the depth to go get a Kawhi and still have a squad around him. Also need to mention that my dad once saw Amir Johnson getting popcorn at the movie theatre, he walked up to him and said "hi Amir" and apparently it was a very pleasant interaction. This guy is a fan favorite for a reason. 

#9 Fred VanVleet - Undrafted 

The second undrafted player in the top 10, crazy how this works. The Raptors don't win the championship without Fred VanVleet and you could argue they don't win without the birth of Fred VanVleet Jr. Fred VanVleet earned himself a finals MVP vote by playing the best defense on Steph Curry out of anyone in the playoffs that year while making some ridiculously tough shots in the conference finals and finals. While the FVV/Pascal era after Kawhi left ended up in disappointment, Fred is still one of the greatest players in franchise history and a guy that definitely didn't require a top 5 pick to go get. I know he's not a superstar, but again, what's the point in getting a star if you have no good players to surround him with?

#10 Morris Peterson - 21st overall

And to round out this list we have Mo Pete, a guy who carried the Raptors through the dark days. While Peterson was never a superstar, he was a solid NBA player and a bright spot on some dreadful Raptors teams. Getting someone like this isn't going to change the franchise, but how many people in an NBA draft can you really say that about? 

And there you have it, out of the top 10 players in franchise history measured by overall impact on winning, only 3 of them were top 5 picks, only 4 of them were lottery picks and 7 of them were picked in the first round. I am not here to say Cooper Flagg won't be generational, I am just here to say there's 1 Cooper and currently 9-10 teams fighting for that #1 overall pick. Throughout the history of the franchise the Raptors have found guys at other picks that have been impactful, even stars. Calm the heck down about the tank and just enjoy the development of these young guys because I believe we'll figure it out regardless. Go Raptors!