The Toronto Raptors have reportedly set their sight fast forward to the future, particularly six years from now, when Canadian rookie Andrew Wiggins becomes an unrestricted free-agent for the first time in his career.
Cathal Kelly of Toronto's Online newspaper, the Globe and Mail, reported that Raptors brain-trusts are already mapping out a plan to attract several Canadian-born players in the NBA.
Since Toronto isn't known for attracting elite free-agents, the Raptors are hoping that its new $30M practice facility situated at Canadian National Exhibition will serve as an 'indoctrination hub' for homegrown Canadian NBA players during offseason, without violating tampering regulations.
"First off, there's the team's $30-million standalone practice facility on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. It's a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses thing - few NBA teams still practice at their arena, as the Raptors do," Kelly stated.
"It is more importantly an indoctrination hub. This facility will become an off-season drop-in centre for every Toronto-based pro - Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Ennis, Nik Stauskas, et al. Nobody's going to be dumb enough to actively recruit while they're there, but it will help form a friend-of-the-family relationship that can massively goose future negotiations."
Wiggins, who appears on his way to bagging the Rookie of the Year award by averaging 14.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, is believed to be the main target of these premature pitches from the Raptors organization.
"Wiggins is the key target. He also seems to be the guy who feels the biggest pull toward home," said Kelly, who also believes the Canadian wunderkind might be willing to sacrifice lucrative offers from big market teams for a chance to play for his hometown.
Kelly also believed the Raptors will also make a hard push for the service of Memphis Grizzlies bruiser Marc Gasol next summer and Oklahoma City superstar Kevin Durant in 2016.
While the Raptors are obvious underdogs in these free-agent lotteries, general manager Masai Ujiri considers the recruitment of these players as some kind of test to determine the factors behind the off-court decisions of these free-agents.
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