Vision 6’9″ was back, a minimum of for one night.
The Toronto Raptors chosen forward Allen Graves nineteenth overall in the primary round of the NBA Draft on Tuesday night. The six-foot-nine forward is the newest in an extended line of Raptors draft picks that were athletic forwards roughly six feet, nine inches in height like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, and most recently Collin Murray-Boyles.
“Big wings, they love big wings, and massive guards, so I fit right in,” said Graves in a video call with reporters from Brooklyn, N.Y., where the draft was held. “I do know the culture there’s great, just from my visit, being there.
“Just knowing that I’m coming right into a winning program that’s getting in the fitting direction is an incredible, amazing feeling.”
Graves averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game for the Santa Clara Broncos last season. He also had 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in his only NCAA season, earning him the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Yr award and Sixth Man of the Yr award.
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The 19-year-old power forward from Ponchatoula, La., said that he could add to Toronto’s possession game and that he believed he could fit right in alongside established defenders like Barnes and Murray-Boyles.
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“I definitely knew that my kind of player was something that they prefer to draft,” said Graves. “My visit (to Toronto) was amazing, it was one in every of my best visits.
“Being across the culture, being across the Raptors, seeing all of the players that were there understanding, and just watching the coaching staff, whether it was head coach (Darko Rajakovic), whether it was assistants, they were all invested in every player, they really take the time to get to know them and get to actually construct a private relationship with them.”
Former Raptors team president Masai Ujiri, now president of the Dallas Mavericks, coined the expression “vision 6’9” during his tenure. Current Toronto general manager Bobby Webster said it’s a philosophy that persists inside the organization to at the present time.
“It’s at all times been best available two-way players, right? I believe that’s at all times been our philosophy,” said Webster on the identical conference call. “I believe two-way, historically within the NBA, you needed to be, you recognize, top 10 on offence, top 10 on defence, or probably top five on offence, top 10 on defence to win a title, and in order that’s form of been the massive North Star that drives a whole lot of it.”
The second round of the draft goes Wednesday night and the Raptors hold the fiftieth overall pick.
Webster said that Toronto would still like to deal with its depth at guard and centre, but that there are several options open to his front office to fulfil those needs.
“The draft is one, free agency is one other, and trades,” said Webster. “So now we’ll turn our attention, obviously, to Day 2 of the draft, but then get to trades and free agency.”
Webster said that Monday’s trade that sent two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and veteran Bobby Portis from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and three first-round picks cleared the table for other deals to be made across the NBA.
“At a certain point we wish to be opportunistic within the trade market,” said Webster. “We’ll look to do this over the course of the summer and even into the trade deadline next season.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2026.
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