Terrence Ross – will he ever realize his potential?
By Brian Boake
The Toronto Raptors have rewarded Terrence Ross with a big raise, starting next season. Will he ever deserve that money, or is his career doomed to disappointment?
I’m intrigued to note a consistent theme among Commenters to our series on NBA draft prospects. So many members of Rapture Nation want to trade Terrence Ross.
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This point of view is entirely understandable. One would have to look far and wide before uncovering a more frustrating player than TRoss. Since his selection by Bryan Colangelo with the #8 pick in 2012, he has had moments of eye-popping brilliance, and hours of play where one could easily forget he was on the floor. Move the guy, Masai!
Not so fast…before we ship him off to parts unknown, I thought I’d explore NBA history to learn if there are precedents which might bring us hope. By that I mean: how many players have started their careers with several years of mediocrity or worse, then broken out to enjoy many seasons of brilliance? If there are such examples, perhaps we can hope that TRoss can find himself as they did.
Here’s the data of the first four years of one fellow of interest:
| Season | Games Played/Started | Points | Assists | Shooting % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 65/2 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 42.3 |
| 1997-98 | 76/9 | 9.1 | 3.4 | 45.9 |
| 1998-99 | 40/40 | 7.9 | 5.5 | 36.3 |
| 1999-00 | 56/27 | 8.6 | 4.9 | 47.7 |
Talk about wobbly! Does this look like the data of an improving player? Hardly. Who are we looking at? Steve Nash. He turned out all right.
Let’s try a more recent example.
| Season | Games Played/Started | Points | Assists | Shooting % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 71/1 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 39.6 |
| 2010-11 | 12/0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 33.3 |
| 2011-12 | 24/9 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 41 |
| 2012-13 | 66/12 | 6 | 0.9 | 46 |
Anybody recognize who might have amassed this unimpressive data? None other than the Raptors’ highest-paid player: DeMarre Carroll.
Here’s the link to Terrence’s first four years. His numbers are actually better than these two.
I’m not claiming to have proven anything by this cherry-picking exercise, other than something you knew already, namely, anything is possible.
Dwane Casey has had a positive impact on almost every Raptor on the roster, but he hasn’t been able to reach Terrence. There could be a chemical issue. Sometimes people simply can’t hear each other. If there’s an irreconcilable problem between these two, it won’t be the coach who moves on.
Terrence may need a change of scenery to pull himself out of whatever funk he seems to be in most of the time. He might thrive in a place like Brooklyn, where the deeply flawed Nets will have lots of minutes for an NBA veteran looking for a chance to blossom. [20-second timeout: Don’t look for any trade proposal involving Brooklyn. They aren’t trading Thaddeus Young or Brook Lopez, and the balance of their roster would make a competitive D-League squad.]
Here’s a best-case scenario: TRoss decides he’s had enough of being on the second unit. He works insanely hard all summer, shows up at camp in superb condition, and forces his way back into the starting five. His 3-point shooting becomes an integral part of the Raptors’ small-ball lineup. Who needs power forwards when you’re killing the opponents with jump shots?
Is that a far-fetched scenario? Yes. Is it plausible? Certainly.