Top 50 Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors arrived in the National Basketball Association with Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995 as part of the league’s first foray into international expansion. The Grizzlies would not last in Vancouver, moving to Memphis shortly after it came into the league, but the city of Toronto embraced basketball and would sell out regularly upon the arrival of Vince Carter, arguably the most exciting player to watch at the time.Carter could not take them deep into the playoffs, and neither could Chris Bosh, who would become their star player after. The duo of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry would however take them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015, but the former was traded for Kawhi Leonard, who only stayed one year, but led them to the 2019 NBA Championship.
This list is up to the end of the 2022/23 season.
Note: Basketball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Norman Powell was taken by Milwaukee (who traded him to Toronto) in the 2nd Round in 2015 after a good college career at UCLA. Powell would earn decent playing time early in his career, mostly playing off of the bench, but was efficient in that role, which was his first four seasons. "Stormin" Norman was clearly due for more playing time, and he was a nice cog in the puzzle that won the 2019 NBA…
Patrick Patterson was a Toronto Raptor for four seasons providing a solid presence. Patterson was a good role player off of the bench and while he did not had a 10 Point per Game season with Toronto, the former Kentucky Wildcat finished 7th in 2014-15 in Offensive Rating.
Anthony Parker barely made a dent in the NBA and thus went overseas to Maccabi Tel Aviv, the best team in Israel. In the six years he played there, he led them to two EuroLeague titles and won two MVPs. Parker was ready to bring his game back to the NBA and would quickly take over as Toronto’s starting Shooting Guard.
Terrence Ross lived by the three and dies by the three, and Raptors fans watched the streaky Shooting Guard drain many from downtown during his Toronto run. Ross however was very much a one-dimensional player, which despite the 300 plus games he played in the North, necessitated this ranking.
Known as the “Junkyard Dog” Jerome Williams was one of the most popular players that the Toronto Raptors ever had. Williams was a tenacious player who always gave everything he had on every play. His best season in the NBA was as a Toronto Raptor where in 2002-03 he averaged 9.7 Points and 9.2 Rebounds per Game.
A Gold Medalist in the FIBA U-19 World Cup in 2019, Scottie Barnes turned heads in his lone season at Florida State, winning the ACC Freshman of the Year, but it was a little puzzling that he went fourth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Toronto knew exactly what they were doing. The Power Forward became a starter for the Raptors on day one, and he would become the third Raptor following Damon Stoudamire and Vince…
T.J. Ford arrived to Toronto and was essentially given a second chance to be a starting Point Guard. Eventually, he would share that role with Jose Calderon, but Ford would still have a good stint as a Raptor. Ford averaged 13.2 Points per Game in Toronto and has his best distribution numbers as a Raptor with a 7.2 Assist per Game Average while playing north of the border. Notably, T.J. Ford had a PER of…
A member of the North Carolina Tar Heels 2009 Championship Team, Ed Davis was drafted 13th Overall in 2010. He would put his big frame to use and working the glass. While he was not used often as a starter, he was always putting up good offensive ratings when he played for the Raptors.
Mike James had one very good season in the National Basketball Association, which coincidentally was his only season in Toronto. James averaged 20.3 Points and 5.8 Assists that year with a 19.8 PER, by far his best ever. Maybe it was an aberration, but with a team as young as the Raptors it earned him a relatively high place here.
With two runs with the Toronto Raptors, James Johnson was a popular forward amongst the Toronto faithful. Johnson is at his best on the defensive side of the ball and would finish 7th in Defensive Box Plus/Minus in the 2011/12 season. To date, Johnson’s best advanced statistics took place as a Raptor.
From Vienna, Jakob Poeltl played in the Austrian League for two years before going to Utah, where in 2016, he won the Pac-12 Player of the Year. The Raptors used their First Round Pick (9th Overall) to take the Center, and he would play his first two seasons in the North. Poeltl averaged a little over 11 minutes per game as a rookie in the 54 Games he played for the Raptors, which may not seem like…
Delon Wright was one of those players who, even though he was a bench player, was vastly underappreciated while he was a Raptor. A First Rounder and Second Team All-American from Utah, Wright was Toronto's backup Point Guard for three-and-a-half seasons, providing defensive prowess and a nice change of pace. In Wright's fourth season, he was traded to Memphis with Jonas Valincuinas for Marc Gasol, and Toronto went on to win the NBA Title. Wright might not…
Traded from the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2020/21 Season for Norman Powell, Gary Trent who became Toronto’s starting Shooting Guard. Trent had his best year with the Raptors in his first full season with the North, finishing third in Steals per Game (1.7), and what is currently a career-high in Points per Game (18.3), and he followed that with a similar season (17.4 Points and 1.6 Steals per Game). Going into this season, it…
Known for his above average wingspan, Keon Clark would have by far his best run in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Toronto Raptors. Mostly used off of the bench, Clark’s 2001-02 season saw him reach career highs with 11.3 Points and 7.4 Rebounds per Game. He would also have a solid 17.2 PER as a Raptor.
On the surface, this might seem like a very low rank for a player that average over 17 Points per Game in his near 200 game career as a Raptor, and in his lone complete season with the North he averaged 18.5 PPG, a more than respectable tally. That being said, Rose’s advanced metrics were appalling and he let in far more points than he scored…remember Kobe’s 81? A 0.5 VORP and sub 15 PER…
With the Toronto Raptors for two seasons, seven foot Slovenian, Rasho Nesterovic would become well regarded for his no nonsense style of play. Nesterovic was not a scoring machine but was adept at rebound and blocking and would put up solid defense.
Charles Oakley came to Toronto and provided the toughness and veteran leadership that the young Raptors team needed. He wasn’t the same player that he was with the New York Knicks but he was the force needed to keep the young team in check and was invaluable in that role.
He only played one season for the Toronto Raptors and never started a game for them but in that year, he averaged 15.5 Points per Game with a very good PER of 19.9. Williams was rewarded for his accomplishments as the NBA Sixth Man Player of the Year.
In terms of traditional metrics, the second season that Rafer Alston had in Toronto was one of the best of his career. Alston had a career high 14.2 Points per Game and his 6.4 Assists per Game was the second best of his career. Alston would later become the starting Point Guard in Houston for a few seasons but it was in Canada where he proved he could be a starter.