Raptors play it safe with Murray-Boyles

TORONTO – Don’t confuse safe with boring.

The Raptors needed a big man, they wanted a big man, and they got one in Collin Murray-Boyles, the ninth-overall selection in Wednesday’s opening round of the NBA draft. While the pick feels like more of a single or a double than a home run, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There were always going to be a bunch of a quality forwards and centres on the board in the mid-to-late lottery and Toronto was fortunate in the way the first eight picks unfolded. There was no shortage of good options. The question was how much risk tolerance they had. How patient were they willing to be with the development timeline of their newest player?

They could have rolled the dice on somebody like Khaman Maluach, the 7-footer from Duke who was projected by some to go inside the top eight but ultimately fell to the Phoenix Suns at 10. The 18-year-old centre figures to be more of a long-term project – he started playing organized basketball four years ago and is still learning the game – but, with a 7-foot-7 wingspan and enormous 9-foot-8 standing reach, he comes with elite potential as a rim protector. French forward Noa Essengue, who had a late workout in Toronto, is even younger and rawer but also flashes intriguing upside.

Instead, they opted for Murray-Boyles, a 20-year-old sophomore from South Carolina, whose ceiling isn’t quite as high as some of the alternatives, but his NBA-ready body and more polished skill set give him a sturdy floor.

If there was one takeaway from watching the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers in a memorable and fiercely competitive seven-game series, it’s that you need dogs to win at a high level in this league. You need guys who are willing and able to play through physicality, who are mentally tough and resilient, and who prioritize defence. Clearly, the Raptors took notice.

“The intensity ratchets up and defence is so much more important, which is why I think [head coach Darko Rajakovic] and our coaching staff preach that so much, knowing that someday we’re hoping to be in that situation,” assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said earlier this week. “Those are the types of guys we’re looking for.”

Murray-Boyles fits the criteria. First and foremost, he’s known for his prowess as a defender. Listed at 239 pounds and with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, he mixes size and strength with a high motor, surprising lateral mobility for his frame, great instincts, and a natural feel for the game.

In The Ringer’s draft profile, he’s credited as having the quickest hands in this class, which tracks; he averaged 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in two seasons with the Gamecocks. He’s tough, versatile, embraces contact and takes pride on that side of the floor. Combined with his excellent footwork, soft touch around the rim, court vision and playmaking ability on the offensive end, he’s earned comparisons to Draymond Green.

“Something I bring to the team is my physicality and my willingness to do whatever the coach needs me to do,” Murray-Boyles said over a Zoom call from the draft in Brooklyn on Wednesday night. “I’ve been a role player, I’ve been a guy coming off the bench, and I’ve been the guy. I’ve had it all. So, whatever the coach needs me to do, especially early on, I’m just trying to find my role as quick as possible and help the team win.”

The pick isn’t without its questions and concerns. How does Murray-Boyles fit in the modern NBA or even on this Raptors roster, as currently constructed? While he possesses qualities that they value and plays the way that they want to play, he doesn’t exactly address their most pressing needs. He can guard multiple positions, but at 6-foot-6, he would be undersized for a centre, and he doesn’t shoot well enough to play on the wing offensively.

The jumper is his swing skill. It wasn’t a big part of his game in college, where he shot just 9-for-39 from three-point range. He did hit 71 per cent of his free throws last season, which is a good indicator his shot has potential, but it’s a work in progress. Murray-Boyles says that he started his pre-draft process a couple weeks earlier than most prospects to hone in on his shooting mechanics.

“Obviously, everybody talks about the shot, but that’s something I’ve been fine-tuning,” he said. “I’m trying to get to the point where it’s consistent. I’m confident with it right now.

“It’s been a challenge and not in a bad way, but that’s the main thing every single day that I come to the gym. Just getting shots up and trying to focus on my form, trying to keep it as consistent as possible, trying to do the little things to make it more comfortable for me.”

If he’s successful in extending his range over time, even to the point where he becomes a willing and capable shooter who can keep the defence honest and take advantage of his playmaking ability, that would raise his ceiling considerably.

If he remains limited in that area, it’s hard to see how he fits on a team that is already lacking for floor-spacing bigs. Would he be able to share the court with Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl? Does he become redundant with what Jonathan Mogbo – who has a similar profile and an extra year of NBA experience under his belt – brings?

“I think, big picture, we're still in talent acquisition mode,” said general manager Bobby Webster. “We’re not so worried about position as we try to find these players. Obviously, teams change a lot, and you can trade, there's a lot of different movement there. So, for us, it was more, who do we think is the best player?”

That’s always been their draft philosophy. Best player available is subjective, but if they liked Murray-Boyles, they’re not going to pass on him because they already have Mogbo, a second rounder who showed some promise as a rookie but might not even be in the rotation next season. And clearly, they liked him enough to keep and make the pick, something that was far from a certainty leading up to the draft.

The Raptors have been at the centre of trade speculation, with the ninth-overall pick rumoured to be available. Webster confirmed as much after the first round ended; they were one of the few teams in the top 10 that were willing to move their pick if the right deal came along. It did not. They were – and likely still are – in the market for an established player, or players, who are ready to contribute to a playoff push right away.

Expecting Murray-Boyles, or any rookie, to make an immediate impact is unrealistic, even if he is further along than some of the other prospects. The Raptors will temper their early expectations and bring him along slowly, as they always do with first-year players. Taking him over a long-term project is interesting, though. Do they feel like they’re close to turning the corner and think he’ll be ready to crack Rajakovic’s rotation by mid-season, or is it simply that you can never have too many hard-nosed, defensive-minded players in your system?

Even if he never becomes a star, it’s not hard to see Murray-Boyles being a valuable role player quickly and for a long time in this league. You can understand why that trajectory would be disappointing to some fans who look back at the past two seasons and ask, what was it all for?

An ugly 55-109 record, frequent rest nights for the team’s best players, and an awful lot of bad basketball just to convey their 2024 pick to San Antonio and, potentially, end up with a solid rotation player. When the ultimate prize was a franchise-altering talent in Cooper Flagg, who went to Dallas with the top pick, or even a dynamic guard with all-star potential in San Antonio’s second-overall selection, Dylan Harper, this pales in comparison. But perspective is needed.

If you must, blame last season’s half-measured tank and some bad luck in the lottery for where they wound up in the draft order. But once they were slotted into ninth, that became their reality. They could have swung for the fences, but that comes with the inherent risk of striking out.

Squint hard enough and you can see a long and gangly pre-draft version of Giannis Antetokounmpo in Essengue, who went to the Bulls with the 12th pick. But he also resembles a young Bruno Caboclo. That’s how it goes with a lot of these high-upside prospects in that range; the risk is baked into the draft price. The guys that are considered “can’t miss” generally go inside the top five, and even they’re not a lock to return value or turn into stars. The draft is an inexact science.

The last time the Raptors had the ninth pick they used it on another sophomore big man with a similar profile – Poeltl back in 2016. Nine years into his NBA career, he’s developed the way many scouts had projected, and Toronto had hoped. He’s never been an all-star and probably never will be, but he’s a really good starting centre coming off his best season as a pro. He still hasn’t incorporated a reliable jump shot into his game and probably never will, but he does just about everything else on both ends of the floor and he does it all well. If you can’t appreciate the player that he’s turned into then you’re undervaluing the many intangibles he brings that contribute to winning basketball. Finding somebody like that with the ninth-overall pick is win.

Safe isn’t sexy, especially at this time of year, when everybody wants to draft the next big thing. But if the goal is to build a playoff team and not look out of place once they get back there, the Raptors are going to need players like Murray-Boyles.