TORONTO – At the same time as the Toronto Raptors pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games of their first-round playoff series, general manager Bobby Webster and head coach Darko Rajakovic spoke throughout the post-season and afterwards about an ongoing rebuild.
That youth movement will proceed within the NBA draft on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Toronto holds a pick in the primary and second rounds. Assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said in a news conference on June 16 that the Raptors intend to take one of the best available players with the nineteenth and fiftieth overall picks, but that doesn’t mean Toronto isn’t on the lookout for particular attributes.
Specifically, they need a real centre and more depth at point guard.
Seven-foot centre Jakob Poeltl was the one player on the Raptors last season over six-foot-nine and, at 31, was also the second oldest player behind 40-year-old Garrett Temple. The difference between Poeltl and Temple, nevertheless, is that Poeltl was a starter and Temple was the last off the bench, if he entered games in any respect.
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Poeltl missed 36 games last season as a result of injury, averaging 10.7 points, seven rebounds and two assists over that stretch. Although he was cleared to play in Toronto’s post-season series versus Cleveland, he often had his minutes limited, forcing Rajakovic to place out a smaller lineup against the Cavaliers’ dominant bigs Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
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It’s a situation potentially made worse if six-foot-nine backup centre Sandro Mamukelashvili decides to exercise the player option on his contract this summer. If he decides to depart the Raptors, he could command significantly greater than the $2.8 million Toronto is about to pay him if he stays.
Some draft options across the nineteenth pick that might add some size include six-foot-eight power forward Allen Graves (Santa Clara), six-foot-11 power forward/centre Chris Cenac Jr. (Houston), or six-foot-11 centre Henri Veesaar (North Carolina).
Predicting who will likely be available across the fiftieth pick is harder with more variables, but six-foot-11 centre Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia), six-foot-eight forward Tobe Awaka (Arizona) and six-foot-eight forward Tobi Lawal (Virginia) could all be available.
Immanuel Quickley is a lock to return as Toronto’s place to begin guard next season, however the 27-year-old missed a lot of the Raptors playoff run and his absence was keenly felt. All-star forward Scottie Barnes shouldered a lot of the playmaking responsibilities, with second-year guards Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead taking turns entering into the starting rotation with mixed results.
Christian Anderson (Texas Tech), Bennett Stirtz (Iowa), Labaron Philon Jr. (Alabama) could all be taken across the nineteenth pick, with Tre Donaldson (PG), Milos Uzan (Houston), and Noam Yaacov (Oostende, Denmark) all possibilities across the fiftieth selection.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press