Watching the Dallas Mavericks win their first ever NBA Championship, it is important to remember it took this expansion franchise 31 years to win it all and they only made the playoffs six times in their first 20 years.  It took the arrival of superstar Dirk Nowitzki to propel them to the current streak of 11 seasons with 50 or more wins.  After being drafted ninth by the Bucks in 1998, Nowitzki was immediately traded for Robert Traylor, and the rest is history.

As a relatively new franchise of just 16 NBA seasons, any success the Toronto Raptors has enjoyed can be traced back to their 12 lottery picks.  The team’s five post-season appearances were built around players acquired directly or indirectly from the immediately preceding drafts, and in spite of the frequent complaints about the Raptors draft choices, most of the team’s lottery picks have been solid.

The Raptors’ pattern of development has been four years in the lottery followed by two or three years in the playoffs.  Current Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo must be hoping this pattern can be maintained, accelerated, or improved upon as he just signed a new two year deal and this June will be the Raptors third trip to the lottery in a row.

1995-2002, Lottery 4 years, Playoffs 3 years

The Raptors first made the post season in 2000 after four years and benefiting from six lottery selections.  All but two of the players chosen went on to noteworthy NBA careers.  Fortunately for Toronto, the two that were not memorable still benefited the team.

1995, Draft Pick 7, Damon Stoudamire

The Rookie of the Year, Stoudamire lasted two and a half productive seasons in Toronto before demanding his way out.  The trade to Portland may not have sat well with fans in Toronto at the time, but Alvin Williams was acquired in the deal and became a fan favorite and leader during the Raptors first years in the playoffs.

1996, Draft Pick 2, Marcus Camby

An NBA All-Rookie team selection, Camby was traded after two seasons, but the Raptors got Charles Oakley in return from the Knicks.  Oakley still gets credit for putting the Raptors on the right path.

1997, Draft Pick 9, Tracy McGrady

The Raptors third lottery pick also escaped Toronto as soon as he could but not before helping the Raptors to their first ever post season appearance in 2000.  Recorded as a trade, McGrady left Toronto with nothing of value coming back and strongly reinforced the local perception that American players did not want to play in Toronto.

1998, Draft Pick 4, Antawn Jamison

Jamison was immediately traded for the fifth pick Vince Carter who became the face of the franchise for the next six seasons.  Carter led the team into the playoffs three times and later got (earned) most of blame as the team fell apart.  Carter is still the best player in the franchise’s history.

1999, Draft Pick 5, Jonathon Bender, Draft Pick 12 Aleksandar Radojevic

Bender was immediately traded to the Pacers for Antonio Davis.  Davis was the final missing piece that completed the Raptors journey from lottery team to playoff team.

While Radojevic’s stay in the NBA was short, the Raptors did manage to include him in a multi-player deal the next season that brought Keon Clark to Toronto for two playoff years.

As a new franchise, the Raptors evolution from the league’s doormats to the playoffs was surprisingly fast.  While only the draftees Carter and McGrady actually played for Toronto in their first ever playoffs, each lottery pick contributed to the team’s eventual success.

2002-2008, Lottery 4 years, Playoffs 2 years

Success in Toronto seemed short-lived and another four years in the lottery soon followed.  No player from Toronto’s first playoff run would be around to see the next one.

2003, Draft Pick 4 Chris Bosh

The future All-Star and face of the franchise would still be around for the team’s next trip to the playoffs.

2004, Draft Pick 8, Rafael Araujo

The Raptors needed a center and drafted one, oops.  Fortunately the team was able to trade him for Kris Humphries in time for their return to a winning season.

2005, Draft Pick 7, Charlie Villanueva

A controversial pick, Villanueva had a 48 point game and made the NBA All-Rookie team.  In one of his first big moves, Colangelo traded him to the Bucks for T.J. Ford during the next year’s draft.

2006, Draft Pick 1, Andrea Bargnani

Colangelo’s selection of an Italian born player first overall has been controversial since day one.  This was in spite of his selection to the NBA All-Rookie team.  However, the seven-foot big man nick-named the magician is a highly-skilled scorer and signed an extension that will keep him in Toronto through 2014 with an option for another year.

{AUTHOR_BOX}The arrival of Colangelo in 2006 led to a re-make of the Raptors and the team’s two-year return to the post season, but that return would not have happened without the infusion of talent received from four years in the lottery.  It could be argued that injury and player turnover started the cycle over again much earlier than expected.

2008-2011, Lottery 3 years, Playoffs t.b.d.

Heading into the 2011 draft, the Raptors have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons.  Those years were not completely wasted however, and for the first time, the Raptors are adding to earlier lottery picks instead of starting over.

2009, Draft Pick 9, DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan is best known for his two trips to the NBA Slam Dunk contest.  A slow start with modest statistics in his first NBA season was followed up by marked improvement and high expectations for next season.  DeRozan is still only 21-years-old and averaged 17.2 points per game last season.

2010, Draft Pick 13, Ed Davis

After winning an NCAA championship in 2009, Davis opted to return to college for another year.  An injury caused Davis to miss about half the season and his draft stock fell.  Toronto was both surprised and elated to get him.  The 22-year-old Davis missed a month to start the NBA season but finished strong and averaged 12.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and a block in April.

During last season, the Raptors acquired the 22-year-old Jerryd Bayless who was the eleventh pick of the 2008 draft.

This year the Raptors are selecting fifth in the draft and despite observations that this draft is not loaded with obvious superstar talent, Toronto will get an impact player to add to their current group of players taken in the lottery.  That will put five lottery picks since 2006 on the Raptors.

Plus Colangelo has been looking for a second top ten pick in this year’s draft which would give him six lottery pick players to work with.  While this appears to be an obvious move, and there are at least two teams who should be willing to trade their pick, putting a value on a high draft pick is difficult to do.

In 2006, Colangelo was able to build a playoff team around what looked to be less talent than he will have to work with this time, but there are no guarantees he has acquired enough.  Draft day deals that Colangelo has completed in the past may be difficult to complete without a new collective bargaining agreement in place and teams may choose to complete deals based on finances instead of talent or to do nothing at all.  These are uncertain times.

It may take another season and a fourth trip to the lottery for the Raptors before Colangelo has acquired enough talent to get his team back to the playoffs again, but this is a process that has worked for Toronto in the past and will eventually find the star talent that keeps the Raptors in post season contention for more than two or three seasons in a row.

Send me your comments or questions about the NBA draft, the Toronto Raptors, or anything else in the NBA to my weekly NBA chat  and check back on Thursday at noon ET for a response.