Six NBA teams have never won the first overall pick in their franchise’s history. Four teams have won the first overall pick just once, including the Toronto Raptors. In 2006, the Raptors finished the season with a 27-55 record, fifth-worst in the league, and that earned them just an 8.8% chance at the number one pick, but they jumped up and won. The 2005-06 season was the team’s first full season without Vince Carter, and though Chris Bosh made his first career All-Star appearance, the team lacked the depth to compete in any real capacity.
There was no clear-cut number one pick in 2006, making it one of the worst times to own the first overall selection. Some of the top prospects included Lamarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Adam Morrison, Tyrus Thomas, Rudy Gay, and the player the Raptors ultimately selected, Italian forward Andrea Bargnani. Bosh himself admitted he hoped the team would draft Aldridge, however Raptors’ general manager Bryan Colangelo had his heart set on Il Mago.
Over seven seasons in Toronto, Bargnani averaged 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 43.7% from the field and 36.1% from three. Not awful counting stats, but his lack of defense and inability to evolve left Raptors’ fans always wanting more from the franchise’s only first overall pick.
On May 31, 2013 the Raptors announced that they had hired Masai Ujiri to be the new general manager of the team. At the time, Ujiri was the reigning Executive of the Year with the Denver Nuggets but chose to return back to Toronto, where he previously served as an assistant general manager from 2008-2010. At this point it was pretty well known around the league that the Raptors were ready to trade Bargnani, and a little over a month later, Ujiri did just that.
The trade
T
New York Knicks receive Andrea Bargnani
Toronto Raptors receive Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a 2014 2nd round pick (Xavier Thames was later selected), a 2016 1st round draft pick (Jakob Poeltl was later selected) and a 2017 2nd round draft pick (Jonah Bolden was later selected)
At the time, the trade was seen as an absolute steal for the Raptors, this comment on the Raptors Republic post announcing the trade sums it up:
Please, can someone explain, or attempt to explain how Uriji did
this? This move alone, I mean, I am literally hyperventilating with
excitement. How did he do this?
Okay, step back and think about that haul: an old big, a useful role
player, and THREE picks (one first rounder). That is for an all-star
player, at worst. Again, YOU SEE THOSE CONDITIONS AND YOU THINK HOLY
SHIT THEY GOT SOMEONE GOOD GOING THE OTHER WAY!
but no… instead the raps get that for giving up bargnani? I just don’t understand, but lord am I happy.
I challenge ANYONE to point out a more lopsided trade not
involving hall of fame level players in the last 10 years. Seriously. I
will happily admit it if one can provide an example.
While Marcus Camby was waived just seven days later, and Quentin Richardson was waived in early September, Steve Novak played one season in Toronto before being traded to the Utah Jazz alongside a second round pick in exchange for Diante Garrett, who was waived shortly thereafter.
Fun fact: Richardson was traded by the New York Knicks on three different occasions, once as a future first round pick in 1999, once in 2009 in exchange for Darko Miličić, and again when they traded him to Toronto for Bargnani. The pick that he was drafted with also originally belonged to the Toronto Raptors.
As for the second round draft picks the Raptors received in the trade, one of them was the pick used to trade away Novak, and later became Jonah Bolden. The other one the Raptors used to select Xavier Thames 59th overall in 2014 before promptly trading him to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for cash.
The first round pick the Raptors received originally belonged to the Denver Nuggets, and in fact, was traded to the Knicks when the Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony to New York. A trade that was also executed by none other than Masai Ujiri. That pick became the 9th overall selection in 2016, and was used to draft Jakob Poeltl.
Poeltl played just two seasons in Toronto before being traded alongside franchise cornerstone Demar DeRozan in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Leonard and Green both played one season in Toronto, and if I recall correctly, something big happened that year? Oh that’s right, the Raptors won the NBA championship.
If you want to, you could say that the Raptors blew the only first overall pick they’ve ever had, but if you want to put a more positive spin on it, you could argue that the trade set off a chain of events that led directly to the Raptors sole championship.
Raptors’ Net Loss: Andrea Bargnani
Raptors’ Net Gain: Well, technically nothing stemming from that original trade stayed on the roster directly, but the Raptors did win a championship, and once (if) the Leonard trade is official, they will have both Poeltl and Leonard on the roster, so… not too shabby.