NBAThere’s only 10 games remaining in the regular season and the Toronto Raptors still haven’t discernibly picked a direction. This squad is either too good to tank or not good enough to secure a play-in tournament berth, which is incredibly frustrating. Being stuck in Eastern Conference purgatory is what Raptors fans fear the most and that’s where this organization has been for the last few seasons.

All there’s left to do is take a realistic approach on what this year’s draft will actually look like for Toronto. Forget about how much money is tied up in their core players and the looming salary cap, that only puts a heavy damper on an already depressing season. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and that’s having a healthy Raptors squad and adding assets in the offseason through the draft.

It’s time to set expectations, which means shifting your focus away from landing Cooper Flagg with the first overall pick. Here’s a look at the current reverse standings in the race for top draft picks.

*Washington – 14%

*Utah – 14%

*Charlotte -14%

New Orleans – 12.5%

*Philadelphia – 9.8%

Brooklyn – 9.7%

Toronto – 7.5%

*Miami – 6%

Chicago – 4.5%

San Antonio – 3%

* – protected

Realistically, Toronto will be looking anywhere between the 5th-8th pick, in a draft that yields a lot of talent. Players that are currently still playing in March Madness that could find themselves on Toronto’s radar include Kon Knueppel from Duke or Jase Richardson from Michigan State. If the Raptors do happen to grab 5th/6th pick in the draft, fans should be excited at the potential of landing an elite scorer, like Tre Johnson.

I had the opportunity to head down to Dayton, Ohio to cover the ‘First Four’ this past week and closely follow Texas’ stand-out guard Tre Johnson in his game against Xavier. Mind you, the Longhorns fell to the Musketeers, knocking them out of the play-in and ending their quest for a national championship. 

So who is Tre Johnson? 

You’re looking at a 6’6 guard with a fairly athletic build and a 6’10 wingspan. He led all scorers with a 23/6/2 line off of 6/14 shooting and 4/7 from range. He has to be one of, if not the best movement shooter in the draft as he can create any shot he wants, while converting at a high rate. He’s a threat from anywhere on the floor, making his living from mid-long range. He has the ability to slash to the basket and should look to increase his points in the paint as he’s improved on his upper-body strength. One of my favorite traits is his ability to convert baskets on contested shot attempts which generates more trips to the line. 

That leads us to his areas of improvement, which starts at the free throw line. While he shot 87% from the charity stripe, he’s struggled in high-leverage situations. Like in last week’s game against Xavier for example, going 7/11. Tre also has a tendency to take too many dribbles leading to turnovers. These are both very fixable traits and under the Raptors’ development, are very manageable.

All around, Tre Johnson is a pure scorer and has drawn comparisons to Tyler Herro and Richard Hamilton. If Toronto finds themselves in a position come June 25th where a player like Tre Johnson has fallen in their lap, you can consider it a win for the Raptors as Tre is projected to be a top-6 pick on most draft boards.