The 12 Greatest Raptors in history, ranked by Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

No. 8: T.J. Ford, 19.0

We now come to the most surprising name on this list.

In the history of the Toronto Raptors the list of best guards is easy to compile: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Damon Stoudemire, Fred VanVleet. The name that will surely never come up is journeyman point guard T.J. Ford, but his level of play while with the Raptors was strong enough to land at eighth on this list.

Ford was drafted eighth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, who traded him to the Toronto Raptors three years later for forward Charlie Villanueva. The 6'0" point guard played two seasons in Toronto, starting in 97 of his 126 games with the franchise.

The stats for Ford hardly scream "elite" but his sample size was small enough that there were no "bad" stats, either. In two seasons with the Raptors, he averaged 13.2 points, 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals, shooting 44.8 percent from the field (but just 30 percent from 3-point range). He also averaged just 27.3 minutes per game; if he had played 36 minutes per game at the same rate he would have averaged 17.4 points and 9.5 assists.

Playing alongside Chris Bosh, Ford and the Raptors made it to the playoffs in both of his seasons. He certainly wouldn't show up on any list of the best Raptors of all time viewed wholistically, but something about his combination of stats and success land him here at No. 8 on our PER list.