We may only be one week into the 2017-18 season, but it’s not too early to take a look around the NBA to check in on the performance of former Toronto Raptors.
While some players, like Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph, remain as advertised, others, like James Johnson and DeMarre Carroll are (surprisingly?) thriving elsewhere.
Here’s how six notable ex-Raptors are faring so far early this season:
DeMarre Carroll, Brooklyn Nets
Carroll was just what the Raptors were missing. Having cycled through roughly 350,000 small forwards in the starting lineup over the past 15 years of Toronto basketball, it appeared Masai Ujiri and Co. had finally found a permanent fixture on the wing.
Coming off a breakout season with the Atlanta Hawks, Carroll signed a four-year, $60-million deal to join the Raps in the summer of 2015, and the fit seemed perfect. Carroll could defend, shoot, rebound, move the ball, and provide the toughness and veteran leadership a team looking to take that next step forward needed.
Injuries kept him out of the lineup for 56 games his first season in Toronto, and in 2016-17 Carroll played less minutes than he had since 2012 as his production dipped for the second straight year. The Carroll experiment wasn’t working—apparently for both sides. When the Raptors traded him to the Brooklyn Nets this past summer, Carroll took shots at his former team.
Carroll’s stock had dropped so dramatically that the Raps had to give the Nets two draft picks in order to absolve the $30 million remaining on his contract. The Raptors have essentially replaced Carroll with C.J. Miles, and used some of the cap space they freed in the deal to extend Norman Powell’s deal for another four years. So, needless to say, it’s worked out.
Evidently a breakup was clearly best for Carroll, too, and he’s been playing great in a featured role for Brooklyn this season.
In three starts, Carroll is averaging career-highs literally across the board, including 6.7 rebounds and 14.7 points per game. He’s scored 17 points in each of his past two games while shooting 56 per cent from deep and attempting nearly five per game. Both of those games were Brooklyn wins, as the Nets are over .500 for the first time in three years (no, actually).
Cory Joseph, Indiana Pacers
Joseph finds himself in a familiar role on his new club, coming off the bench and playing around 25 minutes per night. He’s also putting up familiar numbers thus far, scoring just shy of nine points per game although his field goal percentage is just 36 per cent.
While there was potential that Joseph could be starting for the Pacers when they acquired him for Miles over the summer, Darren Collison seems to have a comfortable grasp on that gig for the time being.
Bismack Biyombo, Orlando Magic
While the Serge Ibaka trade helped unclog Orlando’s frontcourt logjam, it remains tough for Biyombo to carve out extended floor time on a Magic team that stars another centre, Nik Vucevic, who is off to one of the hottest starts of any player in the NBA.
Biyombo is still effective as ever in his reduced role, averaging 1.3 blocks through three games this season in less than 15 minutes per game, and is proving to be an elite-level veteran on a young Magic team.
ICYMI: Jonathan Isaac was so nervous he forgot to put his jersey on: https://t.co/Hv1Es6OLlS
Instagram: @bismackbiyombo pic.twitter.com/D1HXIZGozP
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) October 23, 2017
James Johnson, Miami Heat
While his time with the Raptors was often tenuous, Johnson has found a home in Miami with the Heat. Over two separate stints for Toronto, the former first-round pick and G League alum sent fans on a roller-coaster ride, clashing with coaches and occasionally flashing glances at his abilities. With his new team he’s truly flourished.
His rugged, versatile (did this just become a truck commercial?), all-around game has been on full display in Miami, where Johnson enjoyed a breakout campaign last season and signed a three-year deal this summer. Johnson, 30, is averaging 11 points, five boards, two blocks, 1.3 steals and a team-high seven assists per game for the 2-1 Heat.
On Sunday, Johnson was named one of the team’s captains. Here’s what head coach Erik Spoelstra had to say when it was announced:
“It was maybe surprising to people on the outside, maybe because you wouldn’t predict this would happen a year ago when we signed him. But when we actually named him captain it was the no-brainer of no-brainers. You talk to any single player or staff member in that locker room, it was unanimous that he had to be a captain. He has that type of voice, purity, intention and just natural leadership qualities to take on that role. So it was really cool to see him grow into that.”
Oh, and he’s also still cocking joints back and banging on people…
Patrick Patterson, Oklahoma City Thunder
The writing was so clearly on the wall that Patterson wouldn’t be returning to the Raptors once his contract expired at the close of the 2016-17 season that he didn’t even have an official exit interview. When he signed with the Thunder in the off-season he was expected to have a spot in the starting lineup and major minutes, but that was before Oklahoma City acquired a pair of minute-chewing all-stars in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
In three games this season, Patterson’s minutes have been as follows: 6, 12, 7. He’s yet to score a basket and has grabbed four total rebounds. Also, this happened:
Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic
Another in the long list of accomplished dunkers that have donned a Raptors uniform (but just the second to actually win a dunk contest), Ross was given a chance to seize a major offensive role for the Magic during the second half of last season but remained as inconsistent as Raptors fans will recall.
Ross has been Orlando’s starting small forward through three games this season, in which the Magic are a surprising 2-1. Ross began the year strong with a 15-point performance in a win versus the Heat, but struggled mightily from the field in an otherwise major upset victory over the Cavaliers this weekend.
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