The Toronto Raptors will find out if they will keep their top-six protected first-round pick this year at the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery.
If their pick falls within the top-six Toronto keeps it. If their pick falls outside of the top-six then it is conveyed to the San Antonio Spurs as compensation for the Jakob Poeltl trade from last year.
The lottery will begin at 3 p.m. ET on May 12 before Game 4 of the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers series.
The Raptors have a 45.8 percent chance of keeping its first-round pick this year. Toronto has a 37.2 percent chance of landing the top-four pick and they have a 8.6 percent chance to stay at No. 6. The Raptors are unable to land the No. 5 pick per draft lottery rules.
The Raptors have a 9 percent chance to land the No. 1 selection. The last time the Raptors secured the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft was in 2006.
If the Raptors do keep their pick, the most likely scenario is it becomes the No. 4 selection. The Raptors moved up and landed the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and then drafted Scottie Barnes.
There’s a 29.8 percent chance the pick ends up at No. 7 and is conveyed to the Spurs.
The Raptors pick can fall down as far as No. 10 if four teams behind Toronto jump into the top four in the draft.
The Raptors ensured that they finished with the sixth-worst record during the 2023-24 season. However, now all they can do is wait and see if their pick will fall into the top-six or not.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri talked about the upcoming lottery and draft and said that he will be happy regardless of the outcome per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:
“Any way it goes we’ll be grateful, we’ll be happy. If we’re not in the top 6 we get our pick next year. If we are in the top 6 we’ll go out and find the best guy or find the best transaction.”
Barnes is excited to watch former teammates square off in playoffs
Barnes recently weighed in on his former teammates Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby squaring off in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. He ‘can’t wait’ to watch them go head-to-head.
More must-reads: