Title: Murphy, Koreen: Philosophizing about the Raptors’ odd position in NBA Draft
Date: June 3, 2021
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, Eric Koreen and I discussed our draft philosophies and how they apply to the Raptors this year.
Welcome to another edition of Raptors Reasonablists with Eric Koreen and Blake Murphy. Throughout the season, Raptors staff writers Koreen and Murphy discuss hot-button issues surrounding the team, but with an even-keeled approach in pursuit of finding a reasonable middle ground. If we have faith in anything, it is that reasonable middle grounds lead to a) workable long-term solutions; b) increased empathy and understanding for others; and c) more wins — at least more wins when they truly matter, probably. We hold these truths to be self-evident, and we hold these truths to be good truths.
KOREEN: The Raptors have a lottery pick for the first time since 2016, and I’m doing something more than cursory draft preparation for the first time since … 2016. Coincidence? Blake, it is not.
You know what, though? I love the smell of wingspan in the morning. I love the draft, and the hope it provides, even if I fundamentally believe that the draft format undercuts the competitiveness of the games, which are supposed to be the point of all this. That’s a rant for another day. I love how people can develop attachments to the ideas of players in certain roles so quickly, only to be jarred by watching a rookie trying to figure out complex NBA schemes in real time come November. I love forecasting the future.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 