Seven-foot prospect Koloko hopes to carve out a role with Raptors

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – Given that draft night is generally one of the most chaotic on the NBA calendar, it was unusually calm in the Raptors’ war room leading up to the team’s 33rd-overall pick on Thursday.

They had traded away their first-round selection, sent to San Antonio as part of the Goran Dragic-for-Thaddeus Young swap at February’s deadline. A full hour came and went before they fielded their first call of the evening, an oddity that general manager Bobby Webster shared afterwards.

Recently, there had been some speculation that OG Anunoby could be moved in an effort to land a lottery pick, perhaps Portland’s No. 7. However, those reports were driven by the Blazers and other interested teams. The Raptors listened to offers, as they do, but moving up or breaking apart their young core was never a real consideration.

“It was fairly quiet this year,” Webster said.

By the time they were on the clock just after 11:00 p.m., the decision was an easy one. Toronto went with Christian Koloko, the seven-foot rim-protecting centre out of the University of Arizona.

In the second round, most teams tend to gravitate towards the player they deem to be the best available rather than drafting based on need. But the Raptors felt like the 22-year-old native of Cameroon – who hails from Douala, the same hometown as his new teammate, Pascal Siakam – checked off both boxes.

For one, Koloko was ranked inside the top 20 on their board, meaning he’s somebody they likely would’ve considered had they kept their first-round pick, the 20th-overall selection. With very little consensus after the lottery, it was unclear whether he would fall to them, although most mock drafts projected him to go somewhere in their