Toronto Raptors select Alijah Martin in 2025 NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors have selected former Florida guard Alijah Martin with the No. 39 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Martin transferred to Florida last offseason after spending four season at Florida Atlantic.

Martin’s lone campaign with the Gators couldn’t have gone better. The 6-foot-2 standout averaged 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game en route to Florida’s first national title since 2007. Martin shot 45.2% from the field and 35.0% from beyond the arc.

Martin scored double figures in all but one of Florida’s NCAA Tournament games. His excellent postseason run was highlighted by a 17-point performance against Auburn in the Final Four.

This past season wasn’t the first time that Martin had found success in the postseason. In the 2022-23 season at FAU, Martin helped the Owls reach the Final Four before losing by one point to San Diego State.

Martin was one of the most experienced players in the draft this summer. He finished his collegiate career with 162 appearances and 122 starts. He also was named an All-AAC Second-Team selection in 2024 and a member of the Jerry West Award Top 10 in 2025.

Alijah Martin played high school basketball at North Pike (MS), where he was an unranked prospect in the 2020 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He earned First-Team all-state honors his senior year.

What NBA Draft experts are saying about Alijah Martin

While Martin was a constant winner at the collegiate level, experts aren’t convinced that Martin’s game will translate to the next level. Ahead of the draft, RotoWire.com provided an in-depth analysis of Martin and his NBA potential.

“Martin is known as a player who can make a significant impact across the board due to his athleticism, but he’s at his best when wreaking havoc on the defensive end,” the analysis read. “He’s a high-energy guard who plays bigger than his size and impacts the game with his toughness, rebounding and defensive grit. He can make an impact with his shooting, but he needs to gain some consistency as a 3-point shooter to have a reliable weapon on offense, and his lack of size is also an issue.

“Martin stands at 6-foot-2, but he plays as a wing despite having the size of a point guard. Martin’s tweener status, streaky shooting and limited creation ability complicate his ability to carve out a specialized role. However, in a best-case scenario, he can be a disruptive defensive threat who can impact offensively with his long-range shooting.”