It is February, and the Raptors are not playing basketball today. I spent the morning wondering if my toaster is plotting against me, but then I remembered the 2024 NBA draft. Some people are asking if Zaccharie Risacher would even be a lottery pick in a re-draft today. It is a strange question, like asking if you would still buy those specific crackers if you knew they would make you slightly thirsty.
The draft is a mystery that usually ends in regret, much like ordering the large poutine at three in the morning. We look back at players and see what they became, but at the time, we were all just staring at tall teenagers and hoping they could jump. Now, we are left wondering why Jared McCain is in Oklahoma City scoring ten points a game while we have other things to think about.
The Ones Who Got Away
People are curious why our front office did not trade Ochai Agbaji and a second round pick for McCain. It is a reasonable thought, but life is rarely that simple. Trading for a player is like trying to convince your neighbor to give you their lawnmower (except the lawnmower is very good at shooting three pointers).
McCain would have helped the luxury tax situation, which is a thing people talk about when they have run out of things to say about actual sports. Bobby Webster recently said that the team has not accomplished anything yet, which is a very honest thing to say. It reminds me of when my uncle used to say he was going to paint the garage, and then ten years passed.
The Impending Expansion
There is also the matter of the expansion draft. It is coming, like a slow moving bus that has no intention of stopping for you. We have to decide who to protect, which is a bit like choosing which of your cousins gets to come to dinner when there are only four chairs.
Looking at this roster and deciding who stays is an exercise in mild anxiety. You want to keep the core, but the core is sometimes soft, like a peach that has sat out too long. We have a center problem, but then again, everyone has problems. Most of mine involve the erratic behavior of my 2007 Mazda.
Observations From the Void
- The Bulls game is on the 19th. It will happen whether we want it to or not.
- Zaccharie Risacher is still tall, regardless of where he would go in a re-draft.
- The luxury tax is not real money to us, but it seems to keep the billionaires awake at night.
- I think I saw a guy wearing a Primoz Brezec jersey yesterday, and it made me feel a strange sense of peace.