Your Guide to Coping with the 9th Pick
Right in the middle of maybe the most action packed part of the sports calendar is the NBA draft lottery. All the teams who's seasons were long and pitiful got to come together and dream on landing a potential franchise changer in Cooper Flagg. By the end, the first overall pick was awarded to the Dallas Mavericks who had a <2% chance of moving into that position. Of course the general reaction was that it was rigged, I don't think it was but if I were to rig something I would send a young superstar to my biggest market in exchange for the first overall pick in the draft. Anyway, we're here to discuss none of that. For Raptors fans, we disappointingly moved down to 9. I personally believe 2 things: firstly we deserved this. The Raptors threw away games at the end of the year and not only did they throw away games, they threw away development opportunities when even their rookies were playing too well. They lost on purpose and I think that should be punished. Secondly, we'll be fine. Masai finds guys above their draft pick value almost every season including last. Cooper would've been nice, also was unlikely so I don't really care where they pick. In this post I will give you all the ammo you need to cope with getting the 9th pick in a "generational" draft.
Other #9 Picks in Franchise History
The Raptors have picked 9th 3 different times in franchise history and I don't think fans can be disappointed with any of the picks:
1997 #9 Overall Pick: Tracy McGrady
Now TMac didn't go on to have a long career with Toronto, but he did go on to have a hall of fame career. Obviously this is the highest end outcome you could dream of with the #9 pick but it's happened before and it's happened to the Raptors before!
2009 #9 Overall Pick: DeMar DeRozan
The franchise' all time leading scorer was the 9th pick in the draft. While DeRozan wasn't enough to win a championship with the Raptors, he was enough to make them a perennial playoff team and entice the Spurs enough to trade Kawhi which ultimately did lead to a championship. With the first pick in a draft you'd be happy with a DeRozan or TMac level outcome, the first 2 times the Raptors picked 9 they ended up with these guys.
2016 #9 Overall Pick: Jakob Poeltl
This isn't the star a lot of people hope for, but he's an above average starter in the NBA and will likely be that for over a decade. That's a win in any NBA draft in my books! The Raptors may lack a true superstar, but rebuilding their depth through getting quality role players like a Jakob Poeltl was key to their success in the past and I believe will be key in the future. Imagine the Raptors had a quality backup big behind Poeltl, they might still be playing if that was the case!
So there's hope guys! Whenever the Raptors have picked 9th they've come away with at least an above average starter and there's a 2/3 chance they come away with an elite scoring option. I don't make the rules.
NBA MVPs
Now this is the ultimate dream, drafting an MVP candidate can make your team relevant for years. I'm here to tell you that getting the first overall pick, or even a top 5 pick, has not been the MVP formula in recent years. Lets go over the most recent MVPs and where they were selected:
- 2024/2025 - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (expected) - 11th Overall 2018
- 2023/2024 - Nikola Jokic - 41st Overall 2014
- 2022/2023 - Joel Embiid - 3rd Overall 2014
- 2021/2022 - Nikola Jokic
- 2020/2021 - Nikola Jokic
- 2019/2020 - Giannis Antetokounmpo - 15th Overall 2013
- 2018/2019 - Giannis Antetokounmpo
- 2017/2018 - James Harden - 3rd Overall 2009
- 2016/2017 - Russell Westbrook - 4th Overall 2008
- 2015/2016 - Steph Curry - 7th Overall 2009
Best Players Remaining in the Playoffs
If you're not buying the first couple of cope posts, maybe you'll be more encouraged by the way the league looks right here right now. There's 8 teams remaining in the playoffs. Unfortunately Jayson Tatum went down with what looked like it might be an Achilles tear, I really hope it isn't. I can't include him in this list because I would really doubt he's back for the rest of the playoffs. No Steph Curry either, they've already ruled him out for game 5 and I have no faith that they're winning that one without him. So with that in mind, in no particular order here are the undisputed best players remaining in this year's playoffs:
- Jalen Brunson - 33rd Overall 2018
- Karl-Anthony Towns - 1st Overall 2015
- Jaylen Brown - 3rd Overall 2016
- Tyrese Haliburton - 12th Overall 2020
- Pascal Siakam - 27th Overall 2016
- Donovan Mitchell - 13th Overall 2017
- Darius Garland - 5th Overall 2019
- Anthony Edwards - 1st Overall 2020
- Julius Randle - 7th Overall 2014
- Jimmy Butler - 30th Overall 2011
- Nikola Jokic - 41st Overall 2014
- Jamal Murray - 7th Overall 2016
- Aaron Gordon - 4th Overall 2014
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 11th Overall 2018
- Jalen Williams - 12th Overall 2022
- Chet Holmgren - 2nd Overall 2022
That's 16 players, maybe I left off some Cavs since they've looked so bad but give or take that's clearly the best 16 guys left in the playoffs. Of the 16 mentioned above, 8 of them were picked after 9th overall and 10 were picked outside of the top 5. You have a better chance at a star picking in the top 5 for sure, but there's more than 1 way to skin a cat and as this list shows, often you can find a game changer with a later pick as well.
Masai Ujiri Track Record
This is the final and most important cope piece, we have Masai Ujiri in charge of basketball stuff and that should bring calm to the fanbase. Going through Masai's entire draft history with the Raptors, he rarely picks someone that underperforms his draft slot. I know basically none of the guys I mentioned above were actually picked 9th, but none of those teams had Masai Ujiri at the helm. I can't rewrite history and just say Masai would've picked Shai in 2018 if he had the 9th pick, but I do think he would've done better than Kevin Knox. Lets take a look at Masai's draft track record before closing out this copium post:
2024 - Ja'Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Ulrich Chomche, Jamison Battle
The jury is still out on this one as they all just completed their rookie seasons. I would be shocked if at least 2 of these guys aren't rotation players in the NBA in 5 years though and I'd call that a win.
2023 - Gradey Dick
You can argue that maybe Brandon Podziemski was a better value pick at 13, but not by a ton. Time will tell for this draft too it is still early but Gradey has shown enough flashes for me to dream big on for sure.
2022 - Christian Koloko
This one you could say was a miss with the 33rd pick, but I wouldn't say it's for basketball reasons. Koloko suffered blood clot issues that cost him an entire season and a half before ultimately landing with the Lakers. I liked the promise of Koloko before the health concerns but we do have to give Masai the L on this one.
2021 - Scottie Barnes, Dalano Banton
Scottie is the key piece of the Raptors rebuild and Masai's only top 5 pick with the Raptors. Everyone in the universe thought they'd be taking Jalen Suggs here, and while Suggs is a nice player, it's clear Scottie was the right pick at 4.
2020 - Malachi Flynn, Jalen Harris
While this was the hardest draft to evaluate with COVID shutting down workouts, it is a clear swing and a miss and Masai's biggest whiff with the Raptors. Still this was a 29th pick, we'll go easy on Masai.
2019 - No Pick until 58, throwaway
2018 - No Picks
2017 - OG Anunoby
With the 23rd pick the Raptors took OG Anunoby. Today OG is an undisputed top 10 player from that draft and nobody behind him is a clear cut above.
2016 - Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam
Behind Jakob Poeltl the only players definitely better at 9 are Domantas Sabonis and Pascal Siakam, one of which was picked at 27 by Masai as well. This is a classic Masai knocked it out of the park draft, if he can do something like this again the Raptors will be more than OK.
2015 - Delon Wright, Norman Powell
Delon was a solid role player for a large part of his career and a key piece in the trade that brought the Raptors Marc Gasol. Norm is a fan favorite and should've been an MIP candidate this season.
2014 - Bruno Caboclo
The famous 2 years away from being 2 years away! While this was a miss, you gotta respect the thought process. Caboclo may not have been a good basketball player but he really did look like he might be.
As you can see here, Masai almost always punches above his weight class in the draft, and I have confidence he's going to do the same here. That's that for me! Lots of doom and gloom in Raptors' communities but I don't think it's that bad. I think they are well set up to take a step next year and I am excited to get behind whoever it is they take at 9. Maybe I'll look into all the options, but there's better places to go than here for draft content. I am more of an emotional hub than an analysis one. Go Raptors man, prove these haters wrong.
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