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The Toronto Raptors‘ well-known hole heading into the offseason is at the power forward position, a hole that could deepen depending on the free agency decisions made by Amir Johnson and Tyler Hansbrough. Fortunately for the Raptors, there does seem to be a healthy crop of power forwards hanging around the late first round in mock drafts (the Raps pick at No. 20).
Montrezl Harrell is one such player, but I think it would be a mistake for the franchise to make this pick. I don’t feel that he has a realistic role on the Raptors right now, nor does he have enough upside to negate that. Harrell, at the moment, is a defensive specialist at power forward. Look around the NBA: how many defensive specialists do you see at this position? Serge Ibaka, perhaps? The list is quite short. The league’s premier defenders are still, by and large, centers.
Harrell doesn’t have much of a jumper right now, and looking at his mechanics I’m not optimistic he develops one either. That makes him a tricky pairing with Jonas Valanciunas, as it denies Valanciunas the room around the basket he needs to operate. Valanciunas was one of the league’s most effective post-up players this season, according to NBA.com, and adding in Harrell would likely disrupt this. Admittedly, Harrell would probably start off on the bench – maybe he doesn’t play massive minutes with Valanciunas initially. But I don’t see this as a great long term fit.
You might say that Harrell could play a similar role for the Raps that Amir Johnson has done for years, and you might be right. But along with having a workable jumper by the time Valanciunas was drafted to the team, Johnson is just a special basketball player. His on-court IQ, off-court impact and uncanny knack for finishing in the restricted area has made him twice the player most analysts expected. I have my doubts that a player can duplicate the success he’s had in the NBA.
In my estimation, there will be better power forwards available when the Raptors’ No. 20 pick rolls around. I wrote recently in praise of Jarell Martin, and Christian Wood or Bobby Portis seem like valid options as well.
Casey Sherman is the Toronto Raptors Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @shermham
