Raptors’ No. 13 pick: Don't be surprised if GG Jackson or Maxwell Lewis are selected

Amit Mann is joined by Tyler Rucker of NoCeilingsNBA to discuss a few prospects that are rising on prospect boards ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft. Listen to the full episode on players the Raptors will consider with their first-round lottery pick on the ‘Raptors Over Everything’ podcast feed.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: GG Jackson, also, I want to get your thoughts on him.

TYLER RUCKER: Yes, yes, yes, we can. OK, I'll give you two, and then we could talk about GG. I'll start with GG. GG, I think, has top 10 talent in this class. I think he's got as much talent as anyone. When he's cooking and everything's clicking on tape, it is unbelievably special what he can do. And reclassifying, he's one of the youngest players in this class.

You have to remind yourself like, he's supposed to be a freshman this upcoming season. So what he was doing in the SEC at that age-- remarkable. But there's just some shot selection that he's going to have to iron out because it's not going to last with the veterans on a roster. They're going to be like, what are you doing?

And he needs to go to an organization that will be patient and develop him and hold him accountable. And Toronto would probably be one of those, where if they buy in and the interviews go well and all of that stuff, absolutely, they would jump all over it because he has the tools to be an offensive weapon. I think, defensively, he's shown some stuff as well too. But there's maturity. And it's expected, and I'm not trying to say that in any way. It's expected with someone that young that's trying to play at that level.

AMIT MANN: So 19, right?

TYLER RUCKER: Yeah, I think he just turned 19, so ridiculous. I mean, he's got so much upside at that height, that shot making. It's really special.

AMIT MANN: Also, people-- 6' 9" 215. Yeah, that's 6' 9" for all the Raptor fans, 6' 9", 215. So we know a relationship with the height of 6' 9". Keep that in mind.

TYLER RUCKER: Another name I'll give, I really think this could be a couple of years. You could find out that you have gold with this kid. But kind of a late bloomer, I really like Maxwell Lewis of Pepperdine-- around 6' 8". He's a late bloomer. He started getting serious about basketball late in his career.

But it's pretty remarkable what he has shown on the offensive side of the ball. And for about 75% of the year, 50% if you want to put it that way, he was putting up insanely efficient numbers at a high volume and then kind of hit that wall, which is always expected. But Jaylen Clark at UCLA, we had on our No Ceilings podcast. And he talked about one of the toughest guys to deal with.

And he's like, Maxwell Lewis has all the tools to be a serious bucket getter. And they train together. And it was just high praise because Jaylen Clark, you know, I think he was, like, 12th Defensive Player of the Year. So I think Maxwell Lewis has got a lot of tools that if you're just smart and let everything come together, you get a really, really dangerous wing that can score at three levels in a lot of ways, and he's got athleticism. He checks a lot of boxes.

AMIT MANN: Beautiful. And we haven't talked about this yet. But the patience and what is the expectation for this player when it comes to the Toronto Raptors, do they want them to be instant impact? Because there are some players that could be, maybe to a smaller degree, but there can be players that can come in right now, probably early stretch of the season. They get their reps in, and they could be a rotation piece on whatever kind of style they want to go with.

But a person like GG Jackson you could say, hey, man, three or four years down the road with some seasoning, some time with the Raptors 905, this could be a guy, like, a true guy. And I don't know where the Raptors are going to be going with this. I don't know where they're going with their franchise, their roster. That's why it was very helpful to have you on. It was greatly appreciated.