The NBA season has finally ended, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder claiming the Larry O’Brian Trophy as NBA champions. But immediately following the finals, we look ahead to the NBA draft, a place where the new generation of superstars will be selected to their first teams and begin the next step of their basketball careers.

After winning a championship of their own in 2019, the Toronto Raptors have been steadily moving on in their rebuild and have been making moves to help get themselves back into playoff contention. Their recent drafting has been stellar, taking main pieces of their core in the first round of previous years like Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick, and Jakobe Walter. Following the team’s mid-season trade last year to acquire forward Brandon Ingram, and it almost feels like the Raptors are just one or two more pieces away from being a legit competitive team. This brings us to the 2025 draft, where the Raptors hold the ninth overall pick, and in a class loaded with potential star talent, there is an abundance of players that could make an instant impact to this Raptors team.

When looking at the Raptors and their team needs, defense and length is a huge gap the team should look to fill. With the ninth overall pick there were a few prospects that seemed to fit the bill perfectly for what Toronto could use, with the most anticipated option being Duke center Khaman Maluach. Maluach is a legit seven footer with elite rim protection, lots of mobility for the position, and the ability to be a serious lob threat and interior force on offence. However, as the Raptors made there pick and league commissioner Adam Silver stepped to the podium, it would not be Maluach’s name being called. Instead the Raptors opted to select forward Collin Murray-Boyles out of South Carolina, which certainly came as quite the shock for most fans. The general consensus was that Toronto would surely go extra big and select a center or taller power forward, someone like Maluach or maybe a Derik Queen out of Maryland had Maluach already be taken off the board.

Murray-Boyles stands at roughly 6’6 to 6’7, which puts him right in the middle of the Raptors’ long list of wings that already include RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Brandon Ingram. However, Murray-Boyles does check off a big box that the Raptors were looking for with their draft target, that being defense. The mindset on the defensive side of the ball that CMB possesses is high level, its something that he does not take lightly and takes tons of pride in.

The outside shooting is a piece of his game that CMB will certainly need to improve, as his workout at the draft combine revealed his jumpshot was not nearly as fine tuned and perfected as some of the highly skilled three point shooters in the draft, and for a team that finished near the bottom of the league in three point percentage, it just adds to a massive problem in the Raptors’ offence.

Regardless of the improvements that need to be made, taking Murray-Boyles is an interesting pick that was based off him having the most skill at the point in the draft he was taken, with the Raptors making the “take the best guy available” route. Time will tell how he will progress throughout the summer and what he can bring the team come the start of the season, but if Murray-Boyles can live up to the legacy of former number nine overall picks made by the Raptors like Demar Derozan and Tracy Mcgrady, fans should be excited nonetheless to watch this kid play.