It was a roller coaster season that saw the Toronto Raptors reach the 50-win mark (51 to be exact) for the second consecutive season. Sportsnet’s hoops panel featuring Eric Smith, Michael Hoad, Donnovan Bennett, and Craig Battle hand out some hardware to recap the season that was:
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Eric Smith: DeMar DeRozan. My initial thought would be Delon Wright. And while he had a solid season for Toronto— giving solid glimpses of what the future could hold— I can’t deny what DeRozan has done. While his statistical jump wasn’t massive, his impact on the game, his team, and the league certainly was. He is lethal in the mid-range but still won’t shy away from contact and, thus, get to the line. Plus, DeRozan improved as a ball-handler and playmaker and his overall defence went up a notch or two too— especially in the final quarter of the season after the arrival of P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka.
Craig Battle: DeMar DeRozan. I really wanted to say Bruno Caboclo here as his PER leapt from -7.7 last year to near-league average (14.6) this year, thanks to his one good game Wednesday night. No arguing with that trajectory! But really: While DeRozan’s advanced stats (outside of PER, coincidentally) didn’t make a giant leap this year, he had a much harder task many nights as the Raptors dealt with injuries. He was a near-constant for the team, playing 74 games and pushing the team to its second-ever 50-win campaign.
Michael Hoad: Delon Wright. Working his way back from injury, Wright didn’t make his debut until February but he was able to contribute and help steady the ship while Kyle Lowry was out. The overall numbers aren’t flashy, but Wright opened lots of eyes with his performance.
Donnovan Bennett: DeMar DeRozan. Lucas Nogueira, Norman Powell, and Delon Wright are easy choices but when you look at the numbers they didn’t really improve they were just given bigger roles. DeRozan actually made qualitative improvements in his game which is made even more impressive given the fact that he did it after getting life altering money. DeRozan’s averaged a career high in points (27.3), rebounds (5.2), free throw attempts (8.7), usage (34.3) and PER (24).
PLAY OF THE YEAR
Hoad: City of Brotherly Dunks. Ok, so this is two plays, but DeMar DeRozan and the since-traded Terrence Ross provided some big-time highlights in Philadelphia. This answer may just be an excuse to watch Ross’s high-flying antics in a Raptors uniform one last time.
Bennett: DeRozan’s game winner at Madison Square Garden.
BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE SEASON
Smith: When the dust settled on the 2016-17 season, I thought about my biggest surprise and I couldn’t come up with anything or anyone better than the season. Why? Toronto went without its all star point guard (Lowry) for more than a quarter of the season. The Raptors started a rookie at power forward (Pascal Siakam) for nearly half of the campaign. There was an in-season trade that sent a mainstay out of town (Terrence Ross) for a potential cornerstone (Ibaka). And then there was the addition of Tucker, too, plus the other in-season injuries to DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson and more. Yet in spite of all of that, the Raptors finished with the same record as the Cavaliers (51-31). And if we play the woulda-coulda-shoulda game…. Had Toronto not been swept by the likes of Sacramento and Phoenix, perhaps we’d be legitimately talking about the Raptors as the number one seed in the East.
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Battle: Jared Sullinger. This can be a negative surprise, right? When the Raptors grabbed Sullinger in the early days of free agency, it seemed like another bargain-basement boon for Masai Ujiri. There was no way a guy on a one-year prove-it deal could look at massive contracts for the likes of Bismack Biyombo and Timofey Mozgov, and not spend all summer getting into great shape… right? Wrong. Sullinger showed up unready and immediately got injured. Then when he finally got in games he looked unfit to play at the local Y.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Hoad: Dec. 3— Hawks 84 Raptors 128. The Raptors were absolutely humming in this one, using excellent ball movement and a balanced scoring attack to break a franchise record with a 44-point victory.
Bennett: Feb. 15— Hornets 85 Raptors 90. After being outscored by 20 in the third, Dwane Casey turned the team over to the kids— and they delivered. Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl were menacing defensively. Serge Ibaka had not fully reported yet after the trade and Terrence Ross was already gone so the shorthanded Raptors had to dig deep. The Raptors had lost 11 of their last 15 and three straight, so that win was a massive sigh of relief heading into the all-star break. The unlikely line up of Wright, Poeltl, Lowry, DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph played the entire final 12 minutes. They somehow managed to put up 37 points in the fourth for the comeback victory.
Smith: Feb. 24— Raptors 107 Celtics 97. It was the first game back after the NBA All Star break and the Celtics came to Toronto riding high. But the Raptors were looking to showcase their new additions for the first time: Tucker and Ibaka. Boston was dealt a blow— and perhaps a wake-up call that the new-look Raptors were for real— as Tucker added 10 rebounds, Ibaka scored 15 points, and DeRozan led the charge with a blistering 43-point performance.
BEST BACK-ALLEY TEAMMATE
Smith: P.J. Tucker. Grit and grime; attitude and edge. And, oh, by the way, all of that is mixed in with overall talent, too. And he’s a vocal leader and tell-it-like-it-is kind of vet that you want on your team, or in a back-alley brawl.
Battle: P.J. Tucker. Always take the guy built like a bowling ball.
Hoad: Serge Ibaka. Did you see the scrap between Ibaka and Robin Lopez? I’ll take that guy on my team, thank you.
Bennett: P.J. Tucker. Serge Ibaka showed he is quick to throw a jab. Tucker clearly isn’t afraid to throw a body, body, head, head combination. Which is why Robin Lopez wouldn’t have instigated a fight with him in the first place.
MOST UNDERRATED PERFORMER
Smith: Jakob Poeltl. He may never be an all-star. He may never be a double-double machine. But he’s going to be in this league as a solid contributor— if not more— because he simply knows how to play the game the right way. He knows where to be. He knows how to use his body. He has a nose for the ball, on the glass or finishing off a pass underneath. And for a rookie, he already defends well in the pick-and-roll and sets good screens, etc. He’s a smart player that should have an even bigger role in Toronto next season.
Battle: Jakob Poeltl. He didn’t get a ton of burn in his rookie season, but he used it well and made solid improvement as the season went on, earning a little more rope in the process. Despite the fact that the Raptors added Serge Ibaka to a depleted frontcourt at the deadline, Poeltl played two more minutes per game after the all-star break than before it. He boosted his ORtg from first to second half while decreasing his DRtg, and ended the season with the fifth-best Win Shares/48 minutes figure on the team. Not bad for a guy just scratching the surface of his potential.
Hoad: Cory Joseph. Raptors fans have started to take Joseph for granted, but the way he took over the starting point guard spot when Lowry went down was admirable. In 22 starts, the steady Joseph averaged 12.2 points, 5.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds.
Bennett: Norman Powell. His ability to continue to produce when given a bigger role made the more expensive Terrence Ross expendable. Without Powell stepping up there is no Serge Ibaka trade. Powell got uneven minutes at this time last year. He was called out of the bullpen to be a spark plug and stopper against Paul George in the first round but was an afterthought by the time the team made the conference finals. This year if Toronto is to make it back that far Powell will likely will have to play a major part.
STAT OF THE SEASON
Smith: In spite of the ups and downs this season— especially on the defensive end— the Raptors ended the year in the top 10 in points per game and top 10 in opponents points per game.
Battle: 19. That’s how many comeback wins the Raptors had after being down by 10+ points. This led the league. In fact, it’s the highest total of 10+-point comeback wins in the NBAminer database, which dates back to the 1996–97 season. It’s interesting to me because you could see it two ways: 1) that they’re a resilient team that is routinely able to overcome even large deficits; 2) man, they go down big in a lot of games. Playoff teams won’t be so forgiving if the Raps insist on giving up big leads early.
Hoad: 15-7. That’s the Raptors’ record without Lowry in the lineup, which is extremely impressive given how vital the all-star’s presence is. Having that experience will come in handy in the post-season should Lowry get in early foul trouble.
Evan Rosser: Raptors defensive rating before Ibaka and Tucker: 106.0 (16th in NBA). Raptors’ defensive rating after Ibaka and Tucker: 102.3 (4th)
Bennett: 6-0. The Raptors are undefeated in the Toronto Huskies uniforms. Coincidence? I think not. The Toronto teams that have won championships— the Toronto Blue jays, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto Rock— all boast blue as a primary colour. No offence to Drake as the OVO’s are a close second but the Huskies uniform is the best alternate the franchise has ever had. Start the movement now. #BigSmokeBlue
