If you wanted to be pessimistic about the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½-based future of Collin Murray-Boyles, the Raptors’ first-round draft pick, you could point out to Canada’s considerable history with negative draft-night reactions, and how they have a history of being difficult to defy.
Bruno Caboclo was famously labelled “two years away from being two years away†after Masai Ujiri picked the obscure Brazilian 20th overall in 2014. It proved a generous timeline for a player who never really arrived.
Rafael Araujo, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s off-the-board No. 8 selection in 2004, was declared “not a stiff” in the draft-night assessment of then-general manager Rob Babcock. The late Babcock, may he rest in peace, said he picked Araujo based on a “gut feeling.†Considering , and that Andre Iguodala was taken with the very next pick, it turned out to be a stomach ache.
Steve Francis appeared miserable when he was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1999. He never played for the franchise.
Which brings us to the question of the moment: How will things turn out for Murray-Boyles after the 20-year-old from the University of South Carolina appeared to mouth the F-word and shake his head in lament after being drafted ninth by the Raptors on Wednesday night?
Love and basketball ðŸ€
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Chloe Kitts was there to watch her boyfriend Collin Murray-Boyles' NBA dream come true â¤ï¸
If it looked like an obvious expression of disgruntlement, Murray-Boyles gaslit anyone who saw it that way. He insisted he was experiencing “a surreal moment.†He said he was reacting with genuine disbelief and not a bit of disdain for his cross-border destination.
“What I said was not a bad thing by any means. Just very thankful for it,†Murray-Boyles later told ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ reporters on a video call.
If that’s Murray-Boyles’ idea of expressing gratitude, you’d hate to see him showing attitude.
Whether or not he wants to play for the Raptors, the Raptors seem to want him. ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ GM Bobby Webster said the team’s scouting department had Murray-Boyles ranked higher than ninth on their internal draft board. And considering he roughly adheres to the club’s long-held vision of six-foot-nine — a philosophy of drafting multi-positional players around six-foot-nine — he might be in the right place, even if, at six-foot-seven, he’s a tad short. The fact he doesn’t project to be much of a three-point shooter — he made just nine three-pointers in two seasons at South Carolina, where he shot 27 per cent from beyond the arc — means he’ll fit right in, albeit for the wrong reasons.
The Raptors made the second-fewest three-pointers in the NBA last season while shooting 35 per cent from deep. In other words, when ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s coaching staff encourages players to spend time working on their less-than-optimal shooting strokes, they won’t be accused of singling out Murray-Boyles.
The Raptors went for the best player available with the ninth pick of the NBA draft: a defence-first small forward who is “ready to do whatever
The Raptors went for the best player available with the ninth pick of the NBA draft: a defence-first small forward who is “ready to do whatever
And so Murray-Boyles’ time in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ figures to be another test case of the Raptors’ internal belief that their developmental infrastructure can take non-shooters and turn them into competent ones. Let’s just say results on that front have been mixed.
The rare player who has publicly raved about ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s in-house shot-tracking technology doesn’t even play for the Raptors. That would be Mississauga’s Dillon Brooks, now of the Phoenix Suns, who spoke highly of the shooting-improvement facilities at ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s OVO Athletic Centre at a national team training camp en route to the Paris Olympics, where Brooks, a career 36 per cent three-point shooter in the NBA, shot 46 per cent from deep.
Closer to home, there’s the case of Scottie Barnes. Two seasons ago, Barnes shot a promising 34 per cent from beyond the arc, the high-water mark of his first three NBA seasons, which suggested the Raptors had engineered a breakthrough. Barnes regressed to a dismal 27 per cent last season, a career low. A below-average NBA jump shot can be a finicky machine.
For all that, Murray-Boyles was touted by Webster as a player with a high basketball IQ and a gift for finishing around the rim whose specialty is defence. At 245 pounds, he’s got NBA heft. With a wingspan of seven-foot-one, he’s got the requisite length.
Certainly there’s something to be said for drafting a smart player who defines himself as a stopper more than a scorer. That he’s a bit of an underdog doesn’t hurt, either.
“He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He wasn’t the most highly recruited kid coming out (of high school) … He doesn’t sort of follow the typical path of a top kid,†Webster said.
But if Murray-Boyles can ever learn to shoot, his selection might one day be seen as a genius stroke.
“We know he’s going to be really good on defence. We know he’s really good around the rim. If he turns into a really good shooter, then that sort of changes the trajectory of his career,†Webster said.
Maximizing Murray-Boyles’ three-point shooting percentage could go a long way to minimizing remembrances of his Wednesday reaction to being a Raptor. The Raptors can only hope his first impression doesn’t turn out to be a lasting one.
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