The 2026 NBA Draft is over. We let our immediate thoughts marinate and after sitting in the Toronto Raptors’ post-draft press conference availability, here are our final grades:
Rebecca: B
Allen Graves
It’s not hard to see why the Raptors see value here. An obvious option as a pick and pop player with solid shooting last season. He has good size and can probably contribute as a spacer immediately if his numbers stay consistent with the jump to the NBA. Graves had a fairly small sample size (only 93 attempts).
I also don’t love some of his decision-making, especially in the paint. This could be due to a lack of capable shooters around him in Santa Clara but he forces possessions inside rather than kicking to the open shooter. That should be easy to fix, especially with options like Walter and Barrett in the corner.
Overall – I think most of us agree that we wanted a centre or point guard.
Jaden Bradley
A point guard!
For what’s available at this point in the draft, I really like this pick. He’s a big guard who has plenty of experience in his four years in college. He can easily slot in and support off the bench which matches the Raptors’ timeline a little bit better.
He’s shown drastic improvement defensively, and with solid three-point shooting, he can help space the floor for the bench.
Josiah: B+
The Raptors made two very Raptors picks in Graves at No. 19 and Bradley at No. 50. Both have intriguing defensive potential, with Graves’ sky-high steal rate at Santa Clara a key pillar in his analytics-friendly profile and Bradley’s point-of-attack defensive pressure. Both have questions on the offensive side of the ball. The wisdom of the crowds (and it is a very crowded mock draft space indeed) has Graves ranked a little lower than No. 19, and Bradley a little higher than No. 50, but the fit in Toronto could smooth both of those pre-draft projections.
Toronto has drafted at least one player in the 6’7-6’9 height range in every draft since 2020. They’ve taken a player from college with every pick since Bruno Caboclo (now only two years away!) in 2014. Grades for players approximately four seconds into their NBA careers aren’t exactly a science, but in a draft process that’s more art anyways, I’ll trust the quality draft history.
Kristian: A-
It’s become a tradition synonymous with this time of the NBA calendar for Raptors fans. We get ourselves excited – and attached – to players we’ve invested hours watching on YouTube or reading about during commutes. When it’s finally time for our picks to be announced, we stand or sit in front of the TV with bated breath, before subsequently going through a violent swing of emotions because the Raptors front-office again chose to go with what they believe internally.
While we’ve had our misses, the Raptors have traditionally drafted well, particularly with later first-rounders. I believe Allen Graves will join a growing list of prospects we eventually learn to be grateful for. If most things fall into place, Graves could provide Head Coach Darko Rajakovic with an Al Horford-Boris Diaw type of player. At pick 19, that’s an absolute steal, knowing how much of a two-way force both players were. Go watch some footage of either player in their primes and tell me that archetype wouldn’t look great next to Scottie Barnes.
As for Jaden Bradley, there’s immense value in bringing on a senior with an established portfolio. The 2025-26 Big 12 Player of the Year is expected to come in and challenge the veterans.
That’s the goal of these young guys, to push the player ahead in the depth chart,” said Assistant General Manager Dan Tolzman. “He’s not going to take a back seat.”
“He’ll come in and fight.”
Julian: A-
Allen Graves
Graves is the prototypical Raptors pick. A big forward with two-way chops who the Raptors won’t have to hide on defence. I understand the logic behind the Graves pick: Vision 6’9″ and all of that, but after adding Collin Murray-Boyles last year, I believed that we were finally in a position to start drafting for fit.
Free agency is never a sure thing for Toronto, and while our reputation has improved greatly since the 1990s and 2000s, the Raptors have never been a destination for FAs, which is part of the reason I am wary about the belief the franchise has in being able to add size and guard play without the draft.
I think Graves has the potential to slot in well into lineups as a backup forward where CMB is playing the 5, but I am concerned that due to the similarity of play-style between him, Boyles, and Scottie, he won’t get the minutes he deserves to prove that he can hang with the big dogs, just like CMB benefited so much from last year. Nevertheless, if anyone can develop Graves, it would be us. I was shocked at last year’s pick and have been extremely pleased with the results. I’m willing to give my faith to the Raptors again.
Jaden Bradley
If the first round is about taking swings at prospects, second round conservatism is far from a bad thing. Bradley has shown what he can do on the college court, and taking a senior for the experience amidst a bunch of players all hitting that 22-24 age range is a great idea for team fit.
Bradley looked cool, calm, collected, and in control during March Madness, and getting that level of veteran talent out of the draft is more than worth it. 3-and-D is a phrase that has been overused ad nauseam, but Bradley himself has made it clear that he sees that as a big part of his role here in Toronto
Getting a guard that will be hard to either target on defence or sag off during offence is always going to be a good move, and will save the energies of Scottie Barnes and CMB, redirecting defensive attention where it is really necessary. Having someone else to drop dimes and shoot threes alongside – or in stead of – Quickley and Shead is not a bad thing at all. And if the minutes aren’t there, time in the G-League is nothing to be ashamed of in this franchise – Bradley will bring high quality play alongside intangibles wherever the Raptors choose to slot him in.
