As top-end talent returns, efforts of ‘other’ Toronto Raptors can’t be overlooked

The ‘other’ guys

There’s Patrick McCaw, perhaps the most maligned Raptor role player since DeMarre Carroll. McCaw struggled at first, making Toronto fans and media alike question whether he was blackmailing Nick Nurse into playing him as many minutes as he did. However, McCaw improved, with a seven-game stretch in which he shot 8-for-20 from beyond the arc, in addition to some scrappy defense.

He also showed some playmaking chops, twice setting his career-high for assists in a game. (Of course, he did all this before a disastrous showing on Sunday, when the Raptors got outscored by 18 points with McCaw on the floor…in a one-point loss.)

There’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who the Raptors plucked off the scrap heap and has been a force of energy off the bench, despite his limited offensive game. Undrafted rookie Terence Davis has brought a different kind of energy; he’s not the defender or rebounder that Hollis-Jefferson is, but Davis is shooting over 38-percent from deep and isn’t afraid to fire away.

That’s key for units that are short on offensive creators, especially amid the injuries. Nurse has called out both Hollis-Jefferson and Davis for their poor play at various points this season, but each has responded better than anyone would’ve reasonably expected.

Even though he won G-League MVP and Defensive Player of the Year last season, questions remained about whether Chris Boucher could stick around in the big boy league, given his slim frame. With Ibaka missing 10 games and Gasol missing the past 12, Boucher leaped into the rotation and proved that he deserves to stay. He’s shown flashes of brilliance on both ends of the floor, with nine games of double-digit scoring– often in limited minutes – and some monstrous blocks.

Rounding out the crowd, there’s Oshae Brissett and Malcolm Miller. It seems silly to focus on the end-of-bench options while all the high-end talent returns to steal their minutes, but this duo deserves some credit nonetheless. Miller has shot poorly – the primary reason that Brissett leapfrogged him – but defended well, particularly in the team’s unforgettable comeback from 30 points down to the Dallas Mavericks.

Brissett, on the other hand, has shown numerous times that he’s on his way to a guaranteed NBA contract. His spot-up jumper needs work, but Brissett personifies this strange cast of fringe NBA players: he brings pure, unassailable effort every time he steps on the court. He’s got great foot speed defensively on the perimeter, which helped him have success defending wing scorers Jayson Tatum and CJ McCollum for long stretches. He’s a bit short as a 6-foot-7 tweener forward, but at 210 pounds, he weighs more than Boucher; his physique helps him battle bigger players on the glass.