The Toronto Raptors have one of the best front offices in the league. Masai Ujiri and his staff have uncovered a ton of hidden gems, including Pascal Siakam in the late first round and signing Fred VanVleet as an undrafted free agent. Toronto made the playoffs just five times in 18 years before Ujiri arrived, and they been there in eight of the last nine years, including winning the championship in 2019.
No team or executive has a perfect track record. In their 28 seasons as a franchise, the Raptors have plenty of misses from failed draft picks to free agent signings that did not work out.
Every failed move hurts, but some sting worse than others. There is nothing worse than landing a key contributor only to give up on that player too soon and watch him blossom somewhere else. Here are seven players that the Raptors let leave Toronto before they reached their peak.
7 Players Toronto Raptors gave up on too soon:
7. P.J. Tucker
Fans may forget that the Raptors drafted Tucker in the second round in 2006. The 6-5 forward played three seasons at the University of Texas, including a breakout junior year where he averaged 16.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per game as he led his team to the Elite Eight.
Still, Tucker was an undersized four and viewed by many as a man without a position in the NBA.
Even the Raptors were unsure. They signed him to a minimum contract before cutting him in March of his rookie season. Tucker played in just 17 games for Toronto, limited to primarily mop-up duty. He even spent time in the G League but failed to impress, so the Raptors decided to move on.
P.J. Tucker could have helped the Toronto Raptors.
Tucker spent the next five years playing overseas before signing with the Suns as a free agent in 2012. The 6-5 forward has gone on to be a key 3-and-D wing for six playoff teams, including helping the Bucks win the title in 2021 and assisting the Raptors in reaching the second round in 2017 in a short-lived second stint with the team.
Tucker could have been an important piece for Toronto for over a decade, but the Raptors gave up on the 21-year-old rookie far too soon.
6. DeMarre Carroll
Carroll was a late first-round pick in 2009 that bounced around the league early in his career. He played for four different teams in four years before finally getting his first significant opportunity with the Hawks in 2014. He quickly became a starter and key rotation piece that helped Atlanta reach the conference finals in 2015.
The Raptors swooped in and signed him as a free agent after his run with the Hawks. Toronto had made the playoffs two straight years, but they were searching for their first postseason series win since 2001. Carroll helped the Raptors reach the conference finals in his first season in Toronto.
DeMarre Carroll struggled with the Toronto Raptors.
The 6-6 wing only lasted two seasons with the Raptors before being shipped to Brooklyn in one of the worst trades in franchise history. Toronto gave up Carroll and two draft picks for Justin Hamilton, who they immediately waived and stretched. Cap space was created, yes, but Carroll blossomed as soon as he left.
Carroll was a quality rotation piece for the Nets for the next two seasons, averaging a career-best mark in PPG in his first Nets season. He could have helped the Raptors in 2018 as they were swept by the Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.
Toronto won the championship in 2019 as Carroll began to decline in Brooklyn. The 36-year-old has not played in the NBA since 2020, but the Raptors sold just a bit too soon.
5. Jonas Valanciunas
The Raptors drafted Valanciunas with the fifth overall pick in 2011, and he quickly became the team’s starting center. The 6-11 big man produced strong numbers for Toronto for the next six and half seasons, but he always left fans wanting a bit more.
Valanciunas averaged 11.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 25.1 minutes per game during his time with the Raptors. Foul trouble and the team’s desire to play small kept his playing time down before he was traded with Delon Wright, C.J. Miles, and a second-round pick to Memphis at the deadline in 2019 to acquire Marc Gasol.
Gasol helped the Raptors win a championship in 2019 thanks to his defensive exploits. He lasted just two years in Toronto before playing one final season with the Lakers in 2021. JV had to be traded to acquire him, but his best years have come after Toronto.
Jonas Valanciunas is thriving after leaving the Toronto Raptors.
Valanciunas saw his minutes increase in Memphis and his scoring and rebounding blossomed. He was traded to New Orleans in 2021, where he averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game, and the 6-11 big man has even added a 3-point shot to his arsenal.
The Raptors missed out on the best of JV because they wanted Gasol’s veteran presence and defense as they chased a championship. Toronto does not regret the decision because they won a title, but the franchise gave up on Valanciunas too quickly.
4. Chauncey Billups
The Raptors became a franchise in 1995, and they were trying to amass talent and build a winner in Toronto in those early years. Boston drafted Billups third overall in 1997 as they were trying to rebuild after their incredible run led by Larry Bird. The 6-3 guard had moments as a rookie for the Celtics before being traded as part of a package to Toronto at the deadline for Kenny Anderson and Popeye Jones.
Billups did not stay long in Toronto, as he was sent to the Nuggets less than one year later. The Raptors got two first-round picks in the deal, including one that turned into Morris Peterson, but Billups developed into Mr. Big Shot. He was a five-time All-Star, who made three All-NBA teams and two All-Defensive teams along with leading the Pistons to the championship in 2004 where he won Finals MVP.
Chauncey Billups could have aided the Toronto Raptors.
Billups only played 29 games for the Raptors, and the 21-year-old barely got a chance to showcase his skill set. The Raptors gave up on him way too soon, and they never even gave Billups a chance to play next to Vince Carter.
Would Chauncey Billups have blossomed into a five-time All-Star in Toronto? The Raptors had the chance to find out, but they squandered it.
3. Marcus Camby
After winning just 21 games in their first season, the Raptors landed the second overall pick in the 1996 draft where they selected Marcus Camby.
The 6-11 big man went on to play 17 seasons in the NBA, and he had the fifth-highest value over replacement player (VORP) in his draft class behind only Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, and Ray Allen. Camby was far from a bust, but he spent just two seasons with the Raptors before he was traded to the New York Knicks for Charles Oakley and Sean Marks.
Would Marcus Camby have boosted the Toronto Raptors?
Oakley was past his prime by the time he arrived in Toronto in 1998, but he did help the Raptors make their first playoff appearance in 2000 and was a key part of their first postseason series win the following year. That doesn’t excuse the Camby move.
Camby was the Defensive Player of the Year six years after Oakley left Toronto. The Raptors gave up a young talented big man, who had just led the league in blocked shots for a veteran that was nearing the end of his career. Toronto had a young team featuring Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, and the trade worked out to some degree, but it should leave fans thinking about what could have been with Camby.
2. Damon Stoudamire
The first draft pick in franchise history was Damon Stoudamire, who is now the head coach at Georgia Tech, at seventh overall in 1995. They had yet to play a game, and the 5’10 guard was their best player and leading scorer as a rookie. They gave him the keys to the offensive immediately, and Stoudamire averaged 20.2 points, 8.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in his second NBA season.
He was the Rookie of the Year in 1996 and looked well on his way to being an All-Star before the Raptors traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers in 1998. Stoudamire averaged 19.6 points in 41.0 minutes per game over his 200 starts in Toronto.
Damon Stoudamire was balling for the Toronto Raptors.
He immediately took a step back statistically in Portland, but the 5-10 guard did help the Trail Blazers reach the playoffs for six straight years, including two conference finals appearances.
He played 13 years in the NBA, but he never returned to producing the monster numbers he did in Toronto. The Raptors were not winning games, and Stoudamire sacrificed for the good of the team, but it is still worth wondering what would have been if the Raptors kept him and used him as a building block in the early stages of their franchise.
1. Tracy McGrady
The Raptors took McGrady with the ninth overall pick in the 1997 draft, and he was unquestionably the second-best player in the class. T-Mac was a seven-time All-Star, twice led the league in scoring, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017. He was an all-time great player that Toronto let slip right through their fingers.
He was drafted straight out of high school and the teenager needed time to develop. McGrady could barely vote by the time his first NBA training camp rolled around, and he still managed to average 7.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 1.0 block in 18.4 minutes per game. He steadily got better in each of his first three seasons, including blossoming into a starter and helping Toronto make the playoffs in 2000.
The Toronto Raptors should have kept Tracy McGrady.
McGrady was sent to Orlando in a sign-and-trade after their first-round playoff exit. McGrady returned home, but keeping him with Raptors is the biggest what-if in franchise history. He blossomed into an All-Star that averaged 25-plus points per game with the Magic. McGrady and Carter could have formed one of the best superstar duos in the league, and the cousins could have made the Raptors contenders for a decade. Toronto should have done more to keep T-Mac in 2000.
The Raptors much practice patience moving forward when they enter a rebuild. They recognized talent, but they did not always wait long enough to see it through. It is an important lesson to learn and one that could help them moving forward as they try to get back into contention.