Toronto Raptors: Five best point guards in Raptors history

3. Jose Calderon

Down to the nitty-gritty.

Brought into the NBA by former-GM Rob Babcock – Calderon entered the league with a reputation as a talented playmaker. He backed that reputation up, averaging an efficient 4.5 assists per game in his rookie year, primarily playing off the bench.

His playing time went down slightly during his second season, which was spent playing second fiddle to T.J Ford. His effectiveness didn’t waiver though. Calderon improved to over eight points and five assists in his second season while also improving his overall shooting percentages.

As the seasons went on, Calderon’s playing time grew exponentially. After T.J Ford was traded to the Pacers in 2008, Calderon became the full-time starting point guard in Toronto and carried on impressing.

In 2008 Calderon averaged a career-best 12.8 points and a luxurious 8.9 assists per contest. It’s also worth noting that Jose shot a mind-boggling and almost unfathomable NINETY-EIGHT percent from the free-throw line. Oh man.

Throughout his time in Toronto he led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio three times and leads the franchise in total assists with 3770 and ranks third in games played with 525.

Over the span of his Raptors career, Calderon also was consistently one of the league’s better shooters. While in Toronto he shot above the league average more than four times and above forty percent twice. Calderon proved to be an all-around offense dynamo at times.

The main blemish on Calderon’s record was his ability to play and up-tempo style of play, something that can explain the decision to bring in Kyle Lowry. 

But boy, could Calderon dish out a dime.