Like many Raptors fans, I think about the decision to draft Rafael Araujo over Andre Iguodala in 2004 all the time. For a franchise long prone to making bad decisions, this was an all-timer. In fact, it’s one of those rare, perplexing basketball decisions that even right then in the moment, the very second it happened, looked bad. Time only confirmed it.
Some context: Toronto was coming off a brutal 33-49 season, the lone year in which the team was coached by the screaming Kevin O’Neill. Vince Carter was still hanging around (and clearly hated that fact), along with Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall, and a rookie Chris Bosh.