Led by RJ Barrett, who was drafted No. 3 by the New York Knicks, Canada had six players drafted in 2019, setting a record for a country outside the United States. The other five were: Nickeil Alexander-Walker (New Orleans), Brandon Clarke (Memphis), Mfiondu Kabengele (Los Angeles Clippers), Ignas Brazdeikis (New York) and Marial Shayok (Philadelphia).
Six Canadians have declared for the Nov. 18 draft: Karim Mané (Vanier College), Nate Darling (Delaware), AJ Lawson (South Carolina), Andrew Nembhard (Florida), Isiaha Mike (SMU) and Marcus Carr (Minnesota).
The Canadian class isn’t nearly as deep or as high profile as past seasons.
“[But] there’s definitely some interesting players who we see with the right development, the right program put in front of them,” Dan Tolzman, the Raptors assistant GM and vice-president of player development, said Wednesday. “They could absolutely turn into legitimate NBA players.”