Toronto Raptors take Dewan Hernandez in second round of NBA Draft

The Toronto Raptors used their only pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to select promising big man Dewan Hernandez from the University of Miami

Just a week after capturing their first championship in NBA history and three days after the incredible celebration parade, the Toronto Raptors got back to business at the 2019 NBA Draft.

They didn’t hold a first-round pick as a result of the Kawhi Leonard trade last summer. However, they did have a chance to add someone promising in the second round, where they held the 59th overall pick.

With the second-last pick in the draft, they selected power forward Dewan Hernandez out of the University of Miami.

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Hernandez was formerly known as Dewan Huell. He changed his name in October to honour his mother. He was a five-star recruit that was the 27-ranked prospect, the eighth-ranked power forward in the class, and the third-best high school player from the state of Florida, , according to 247Sports.

The McDonalds All-American received offers from the likes of Kansas, North Carolina, Florida State, and Mississippi State, but he opted to stay in his hometown and play for the Hurricanes.

He came off the bench for Miami in his freshman year. 2017-18 was his true coming out party. Hernandez started all 32 games and averaged 11.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1 block per contest.

Following his sophomore campaign, Hernandez declared for the 2018 Draft, but he didn’t hire an agent and ended up withdrawing his name, allowing him to return to Miami for his junior season.

Unfortunately, Hernandez wasn’t able to play, as he was caught up in the 2017-18 NCAA corruption scandal and ruled ineligible to play.

The NCAA determined that Hernandez had entered into an agreement with Christian Dawkins, a runner for NBA agent Andy Miller, who was attempting to start his own agency.

Dawkins’ agreement saw players being paid lump sums every month while still playing in college, and while no evidence was presented that proved Hernandez received any payments, he was still forced to sit out.

After the NCAA failed to reinstate the 22-year-old, he officially declared for the 2019 Draft in January.

It wasn’t just a banner week for Canada’s team. Canadian basketball as a whole had a massive night at the draft, as a record six Canucks were taken. The group was headed by star R.J. Barrett, who was selected third overall by the New York Knicks. In addition, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (No. 17), Brandon Clarke (No. 21), Mfiondu Kabengele (No. 27), Iggy Brazdeikis (No. 47), and Marial Shayok (No. 54) were all taken on Thursday.

Toronto currently is waiting to see if Marc Gasol opts into his current deal, which will pay him just under $25.6 million next year. At 34-years-old, he’s more than likely to choose to stay in town. Serge Ibaka also has another year left on his deal at $23 million. They’ll likely serve as the Raptors’ centres next year. At the four, however, the Raptors need some help behind Pascal Siakam.

The breakout power forward had an unbelievable 2018-19 campaign that will likely culminate with him winning the league’s Most Improved Player award. But Eric Moreland and Chris Boucher were his backups down the stretch. The former is a free agent and the latter only has 29 games of NBA experience.

That’s still more games than Hernandez, but he was a highly-touted prospect who likely would’ve gone much higher in this draft had he played in the NCAA this past year.

He’ll need to get back up to game speed and could be looking at some time in the G League with Raptors 905. That could be the best thing for Hernandez, as 905 has been able to develop numerous Raptors regulars like Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and Norm Powell.

There’s never a guarantee that a player picked at the back half of the second round will pan out, but with some of the success stories on the Raptors, you can’t overlook Hernandez as a contributor in the future.

What do you think of the pick? How does Hernandez fit into the Raptors’ future plan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!