With Henson Now in the Mix, Raptors Draft Intentions Get a Little More Convoluted.

With the NBA Draft now just a few days away, the HQ's Scott Campsall takes a look at the Raptors' rather complicated draft picture.

It has been somewhat of a crazy few weeks for the Toronto Raptors' front office as they continue to prepare for Thursday's NBA Draft.

The Dinos have worked out a number of prospects of varying skillsets. They have seen projected Lottery picks as well as players that may not even hear their name called on draft night.

Yet, the predominant feeling around the team at this point in time is that the Raptors are no closer to having the exact player that they intend to choose with the number eight pick in Thursday's draft pinpointed then they were the night they discovered they were picking eighth.

One of the popular opinions over the course of this pre-draft process has been that the Dinos were looking to add a guard that could get to the basket and/or shoot the deep ball. This is in part due to the fact that the Raptors currently have a glut of power forwards and partly because they are lacking a consistent scoring guard with DeMar DeRozan not quite developing into the type of player they would like him to be.

However, it seems as though that opinion may have been altered slightly of late.

On Thursday the Raptors' brass brought in a number of potential power forwards for a workout that, according to VP of Basketball Operations Ed Stefanski, "muddied the waters" in terms of the Dinos' draft plans.

Following the workout, Stefanski did acknowledge that power forward is a position that the club is currently strong in, but he also went on to say that doesn't necessarily mean they will not consider taking one with the eighth overall pick.

"When you are picking eighth in the draft, if you like a guy and he is a power forward but you think is the best player on the board... I think you have to go with what you feel is the best... because you have trades and things like that that you can do down the road" Stefanski told us on Thursday.

And this, according to a report by the Sun's Ryan Wolstat, is exactly what the Raptors are now considering.

After being impressed with North Carolina standout John Henson following his workout with the club last Thursday, he is now another player being taken into consideration as a possible selection with that eighth pick. This means that you can add Henson to a list of potential draftees which the Raptors are considering-a list that most likely includes Syracuse's Dion Waters, UConn's Jeremy Lamb and Weber State's Damien Lillard.

The stacking principle is something that Colangelo has been talking a great deal about over the course of this pre-draft process, but up until this point it was tough to say who exactly the Raps might target at power forward to put that stacking principle into effect.

But with this recent news about their potential interest in Henson, does it then open the door for other possible forwards like Andre Drummond-if he slips- Perry Jones or even Jared Sullinger?

Those possibilities get even more intriguing with the word that the Raptors could be looking to move back in the draft and pick up two picks from Houston, which would make a possible Perry Jones or Jared Sullinger selection a much more realistic option then simply picking one of the two at eight.

The reality of the Raptors' draft day situation is that whether they stay at eight, or move back a few spots, they will be in reactionary mode as their draft choice will likely be dictated by what the teams ahead of them choose to do with their selections. This is not unlike the situation the Raptors found themselves in during the 2010 draft in which the Raptors had targeted a number of different players but opted to pick Ed Davis-who hadn't worked out for the team-when he slid all the way out of the top ten.

Part of being reactionary means potentially drafting a player at a position in which they do not necessarily have a need. If it yields the best possible player or trade piece for the team going forward, then that should be a win for the club.

With the draft less than a week away Bryan Colangelo and the rest of the front office are going to have their work cut out for them. Despite the complexity that goes along with considering the myriad of options that the squad currently has at their disposal, it would appear that keeping their options open come draft night would be the best possible route for this team to take.