Raptors Select Koloko, Canadians Taken Sixth and Seventh

The National Basketball Association’s annual prospect draft took place at the Barclays Center in New York on Thursday.

The night began with a slight surprise, as the Orlando Magic chose Paolo Banchero with the first overall selection, bringing a boisterous crowd to its feet. Banchero – a freshman with Duke – beat out fellow first-year players Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet Holmgren for the No. 1 selection, something most felt Smith Jr. would attain.

Surprisingly, Smith Jr. did not hear his name called until the Houston Rockets made their way to the stage with the third overall pick. Holmgren, the seven-foot center was chosen second by Oklahoma City, while the Auburn star squirmed in his seat until NBA commissioner Adam Silver took to the stage for the third time.

Keegan Murray and Jaden Ivey wrapped up the top-five, going to the Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons, respectively. Murray who had a fantastic sophomore season in Iowa made a sizeable leap into the top-five after earlier being considered a bubble first-round pick. Ivey will follow in the steps of Cade Cunningham in Motor City, after Detroit took the now 20-year-old guard first overall at last year’s spectacle.

Then came the Canadians.

With two players of Canadian descent being selected within the top-10 for just the second time ever, Canada Basketball continued to put itself on the map once again in New York.

In 2014, Andrew Wiggins went first overall to the Cavaliers, while Nik Stauskas went eighth to Sacramento. There was certainly a significant gap between Canadian selections eight years back, but not on Thursday night.

Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal heard his name called sixth overall by the Indiana Pacers. Then just a handful of minutes later, Shaedon Sharpe was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers at seventh overall, marking back-to-back Canadian picks.

Mathurin, a 20-year-old guard, spent two full years at the NBA Academy in Mexico, before heading to the University of Arizona where he took the Pac-12 most outstanding player award while putting up over 17 points and nearly six rebounds per game on the season. The 6-foot-6 Quebec product tips the scales at 205 pounds.

Sharpe, 19, has actually been out of basketball since the fall. The Ontario product committed to the Kentucky Wildcats back in January, but has yet to suit up in-game action. He was expected to begin his NCAA career in the 2022-23 season after graduating a semester early and enrolling as a redshirt freshman with Kentucky. Just three years ago, Sharpe was playing with the Beal Raiders of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association.

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Mathurin and Sharpe became just the seventh and eighth Canadians chosen within the top 10 since Anthony Bennett in 2013.

The Raptors did not have a selection in the first round but were on slate to choose just three picks into the second round, to which they opted to go with a familiar name – or at least a familiar hometown. Taking Christian Koloko at No. 33, Toronto chose another Cameroonian from the same hometown as Pascal Siakam: Douala.

“He won’t have to wander around nearly as much ,” Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse said of Siakam’s helpful presence alongside Koloko. “I know that sounds kind of silly, but just finding your way around and getting into places and knowing ‘Hey, there’s the strength coach and there’s the chef and here’s where you park’ and all that stuff helps you get to work.”

The big, 7-foot-1 centre averaged 12.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks a game at the University of Arizona last year. He earned the 2021-22 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and was an All-Pac-12 first team choice.

“He’s a good shot blocker, has really good defensive numbers, ranks really highly in all of college basketball last year in a lot of categories,” Nurse added. “Pretty decent pick-and-roll player and he’s got good feet. I think he’s a big rim-protecting shot blocker but I think he’s not without the ability to do some switching and move his feet on the perimeter as well.”

“I did talk to him and he’s super, super excited to be here,” he said. “Like really, really happy that we selected him.”

The Raptors managed to pick up the 33rd selection back in early February in a deal with San Antonio, to which Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks and the second-rounder (originally from Detroit) were shipped to Toronto for Goran Dragic and the Raptors’ lottery-protected first-rounder.

Toronto’s second-round pick was also dealt to Philly back in 2019, so Nurse’s club only had one selection on the night, but they made it a big one that will help restore some tension between Siakam, fans and management regarding the 28-year-old’s future in Canada.