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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 range – late first round or early second.

It’s not hard to see why they were so intrigued, or how he could fit in. As a junior, Koloko showed significant improvement with the Wildcats last season, more than doubling his scoring average from the year prior (12.6 points per game, up from 5.3). He shot 64 per cent from the field, with most of his attempts coming around the rim, and averaged 7.3 rebounds. Most notably, he blocked 86 shots (2.8 per game), second-most in school history, and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Without a true centre on the roster last season, Koloko gives the Raptors some size, depth and rim protection at the position. He’ll be the first seven-footer they’ve employed since Alex Len was waived three weeks into the ill-fated 2020-21 Tampa campaign. But unlike Len or Aron Baynes, or many of the available traditional big men that they’ve passed on over the last couple seasons, they believe Koloko is mobile enough to complement their complex defensive system instead of slowing them down.

“He's a five-man but not a typical five,” head coach Nick Nurse said shortly after the pick was made late Thursday night. “He’s a more modern lob-threat, rim protector type of centre. He’s not like a banging, post-up type of guy, which is good. We’re gonna want to open the floor, the way we always like to do. It is a little different than any of the traditional centres we’ve had.”

“It is something that we do not have,” said Webster. “When can [he] contribute? I think that's a fair question. We probably won't know until we get to be around [him] a little bit more. But yeah, I think as far as like a seven-foot rim protector, we don't have that.”

The Raptors will temper their expectations and so should you. The odds of finding NBA-ready talent in the second round are low. “Three out of 10 make it,” as Webster put it earlier this week, and that might be a generous estimation.

Despite coming in older than most rookies, Koloko is still a developing player, having picked up the sport as a teenager. He needs to get stronger and work on expanding his offensive repertoire at the next level.

He didn’t make a single three-pointer during his three college seasons, missing all five of his attempts, though his much-improved 74 per cent free throw shooting last year indicates that there’s potential to extend his jumper. His limited range was unlikely to deter the Raptors and their high-regarded development staff, which helped turn Precious Achiuwa from a non-shooter (he attempted one three during his rookie campaign in Miami) to a 39 per cent three-point marksman after last year’s all-star break. The work begins when Koloko meets his new team in Las Vegas ahead of Summer League next weekend.

As a second-round pick, he isn’t owed a guaranteed rookie scale contract, giving the team some flexibility in terms of how to structure his first NBA deal. While they see him making the roster, at least in some capacity, they intend to ease him in.

We know a couple things to be true of first-year players in Nurse’s system. One, with the exception of prized fourth-overall pick and the NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, they can probably expect to get some G League seasoning with the 905, especially early in the season. Two, while it takes time to earn his trust, Nurse is not opposed to giving young guys opportunities, and then extending those opportunities where and when its warranted.

Koloko isn’t the answer at the centre position, at least not right away, but Nurse and the Raptors don’t feel like they’re in desperate need of one. They remain high on Achiuwa and want to continue developing him as a small-ball five. When healthy, they see Khem Birch – who is recovering from off-season knee surgery – as a serviceable backup. They also value the versatility of that undersized, but long and athletic unit they started games with last season.

Still, with a strong showing at Summer League and in training camp this fall, there could be an opportunity for Koloko to carve out a niche role on this team. And, to his credit, he’s coming in with the right approach.

“My goal for my rookie season is to just be the best version of myself,” said Koloko, who was introduced to the media on Friday via Zoom from Los Angeles, where he watched the draft with his family the night before. “If being the best version of myself is being the Rookie of the Year, that’s good. If being the best version of myself is, I don’t know, just being somebody coming off the bench for the Toronto Raptors and giving everything he has, that’s good for me [too]. Just embracing the role the team is going to give me [and being] a star in my role in my rookie year.”

“I think that there’s probably positionally a chance for him to fight his way in there and get some time,” Nurse said. “I would imagine that there would be a chance at some point. It’s just a matter of when that comes. Then you just never know. He’s still in a development phase, but I think there’s a lot of potential there with the size and timing and the things that are already there that he can probably help us.”

Koloko’s student visa won’t allow him to leave the United States and cross the border into Canada, so he’ll have to wait until he signs his contract and gets a work permit before making his first trip to Toronto next month. He’s looking forward to checking out the city, though he’s already planning ahead and jokes that he’ll need to use his first paycheque to purchase a warm winter coat. He’s only seen snow once in his life.

Koloko was 17 when he left Cameroon and moved to California, where his sister was already living. He spoke limited English at the time but gradually got more comfortable with it as he conversed with his high school teammates at Sierra Canyon. That’s also the year he fully committed to basketball.

“I just got taller and I was like, man, I’m going to just stick with basketball, I feel like I can be pretty good with this sport,” Koloko said. “I just embraced the challenge and started working on my game and here I am today.”

Koloko has studied some of the league’s best big men. Defensively, he’s tried to borrow from Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green. He watches offensive tape of Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. As a kid, his favourite player was Kevin Durant, which is why he wears No. 35 on his jersey. But he’ll share a locker room with one of his biggest inspirations.

He doesn’t know Siakam well but the two countrymen have met a couple times and they spoke after the draft on Thursday, in French. They not only share a hometown but also have similar backgrounds. They both grew up playing soccer in Douala before moving to North America as teenagers and decided to pursue basketball. His late introduction to the game accounted for Siakam’s high upside, which is clearly something the Raptors look for and value in prospects. Koloko is hoping to follow in those footsteps, and having the 28-year-old vet as his new teammate should help in the transition process.

“Where I’m from, it’s only me and Pascal from that city to make it this far,” Koloko said. “To get to the NBA, it’s just surreal. I’m just going to embrace it and continue to get better and show people that you can achieve anything if you put the work in.”

Koloko’s visa issues prevented him from coming to Toronto for a pre-draft visit. The Raptors had hoped to arrange for a private workout in Buffalo, like they did with Siakam before selecting him 27th overall in 2016, but there was a scheduling conflict. They were able to meet with him in person at the draft combine in Chicago last month.  

However, they already saw everything they needed to see to justify their excitement over the pick. He’s been on their radar for a half decade.

Masai Ujiri and the Raptors’ scouts first saw Koloko at a Basketball Without Borders camp in Johannesburg back in 2017 and they’ve been tracking his progress ever since.

“[He was a] long skinny, lanky kid,” Webster remembers of the then 17 year old.

He’s come a long way since then. The hope, for both the player and his new team, is that he’s still just scratching the surface.

“My goal is to be a long-time NBA player, be a really good player in the NBA, be a multiple time all-star and just have the best career possible,” Koloko said. “I started playing basketball kind of late so I think the sky is the limit for me and I will continue to get better.”