Why Raptors drafted Allen Graves after he was a bench player at Santa Clara

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Santa Clara Broncos forward Allen Graves (22) shoots as Kentucky Wildcats forward Mouhamed Dioubate (23) defends during the second half in a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Toronto Raptors ended up staying put at No. 19 in the 2026 NBA Draft.

And with their first-round selection, they chose Allen Graves -- who was a bench player at Santa Clara.

It's a bit confusing on paper, because how can a player go from being sixth man at Santa Clara to being a first-round NBA Draft pick?

Well, you have to be Graves.

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Why did the Raptors draft Allen Graves?

Graves may not have started games at Santa Clara, but he finished them.

He's one of the draft's best all-around players.

At 6-foot-7, Graves does pretty much everything well, and so the Raptors weren't concerned that Santa Clara decided to use him as a sixth man and not a starter.

Graves shot 41% from 3-point range, which is obviously a huge skill by itself no matter what else works out.

He can score, he can defend, he can shoot -- that's what the Raptors see.

So yeah, he comes from a mid-major. But that's a school that has recently sent Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski to the NBA in the last five years.

The Raptors will hope Graves grows into a starter for them. And to do that, he might not have needed to do that much in college, apparently.

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