Raptors during we the north era 2014-2019 always had one of the best benches in nba
Starting with 2015 draft, delon wright and Norman powell
2016 draft, poeltl, Siakam and undrafted fvv
In 2 years we got 5 really good bench pieces which we developed. Siakam and fvv eventually became all stars
2017 draft we got og anuogby, another hit pick
2018 draft had to burn a first to get rid of demarre Carroll contract
2019 draft, pick went to spurs for Kawhi, bust with Dewan herendaz
Now this where things get muddy
2020 draft we just Malachi Flynn, right after Desmond bane selected
Jalen Harris off court issues
Flynn hasn’t developed at all in my opinion
2021 draft we land Scottie Barnes nice pick, but we go 0/2 with second round picks with David Johnson and banton
2022 draft we move back 15 spots for thad young, choose Koloko who has not made any impact, injuries and no offense game
2023 draft - Gradey dick, juror still out on. Right now tho no impact with bench
Then you got players like precious, trent who have made no progress development wise since they got here, same issues implied
We had many chances to have decent bench, front office and play development gas failed miserably, this wouldn’t have happen in 2014-2019 time
The problem isn’t lack of player development. Statistically, the Raps have been elite at drafting (dashboard here for those that can’t see the article).
The problem is a lack of good picks to work with—it’s hard to consistently hit on late firsts (when we even had one at all) and second rounders.
Some of those trades were justified. We traded three firsts to assemble the 2019 squad, which obviously worth it but it did come at a cost. The picks we gave up for Thad and Poeltl on the other hand are much harder to justify IMO.
The draft is a bit of a lottery, but the Raps have better odds than most. If we can get more picks at higher positions, I like our chances of coming out with something good. But we can’t expect to turn out quality starters when we’re drafting at 20th overall every second year.