A History To Forget In Round 2 For The Raptors

There has been lots of talk about who the Raptors would like to take with their first round pick. You may almost forget that they have two 2nd round picks as well. That would be understandable given that Raptors awful history in drafting in the the second round. It started so positively on the surface. The Raptors drafted a member of the Michigan Fab 5 in 1995. Jimmy King only played 64 games in that first Raptor season and averaged 4.5 points. He would be traded that summer and only played two more games in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets. That said at least he played for the Raptors. DeeAndre Hulett (2000 46th pick), Remon Van de Hare (2003 52nd Pick), Albert Miralles (2004 39th pick), Edin Bavcic (2006 56th pick) all never suited up for the Raptors for an NBA Game. Tyson Wheeler drafted in 1998 picked 47th overall played 1 game and made the only 3 pointer he ever took as a Raptor or in the NBA for that matter.

It truly is a house of horrors looking at the Raptors lack of production out of the second round. This is not even including guys they traded for like Nathan Jawai and more recently Solomon Alabi. You can make a strong case that Matt Bonner might be the most significant Raptors 2nd round pick of all time. Well technically he was traded for too as Bonner was actually drafted by the Bulls 45th overall. We all love Matt Bonner for the most part, but seriously that is the best we have done? Not to mention you could argue that Bonner is a much better player now playing with the Spurs than he was as a Raptor.

The most games played by a Raptor home grown 2nd round pick is 85 games by Roko Ukic. If you want to throw Matt Bonner in  the mix he played here for just two seasons and played in 160 games in those 2 seasons. While the first round boom and busts get all the attention not just with the Raptors but all teams, this is truly a history of epic failure is it not? In these many years of being a franchise you would think the Raptors could have found a couple gems in rough? Just by dumb luck even. Many might have hoped P.J Tucker could have been that guy but all he got was a cute Chuck Swirsky nickname in the "Baby Mule". Not even the smile of Uros Slokar can make me feel better about this.

So as you prepare to get all your lucky charms ready for the draft lottery and hope the Raptors will hit the Anthony Davis jackpot don't forget the Raptors still have their 2nd round pick and the 2nd round pick of the Indiana Pacers that they got in the Barbosa trade. In a draft that most people would class as a deep draft maybe this will be the year the Raptors will find a player in the 2nd round? After reading this it is hard to feel optimistic about the chances of that happening isn't it? Chances are the Raptors will draft some European player that never sees the light of day in the NBA. There have been lots of those in the Raptors history.

You might say why is this important. The answer beyond the fact it shows a lack of scouting ability in the organization. It also helps you out in terms of your cap if you can find a couple guys in the second round that can play in terms of the teams overall cap situation. I mean we all have fun cheering for a Solo dunk, but isn't it about time the Raptors found an actual legit player in the 2nd round rather than a player who is just slightly ahead of the mascot in terms of importance to the franchise? In fact I am insulting The Raptor by saying that. After all he has lasted longer than any Raptors 2nd round pick.

You might want to remember this the next time you get into a heated debate over the Raptors getting or giving away a second round pick.Given the Raptors awful history in actually using their second round picks trading them might be the best move they can make at the end of the day. That or maybe it is time to overhaul the scouting department. The Raptors success rate in the first round is better but is not exactly filled with greatness either. This might be as big a part as any as to why the Raptors have only seen the 2nd round of the playoffs just once.