Hey, it's the dead of summer so why not open up the Raptors time machine and rewind down memory lane in search of some noteworthy storylines from yesteryear?
I was just thinking about this over the last few days too, especially as I've been pondering the idea of Toronto's top free agent acquisition in franchise history. Of course, recency bias would have the general Raptors fans assuming Brandon Ingram is the team's best free agency get, but that extension was only offered to BI after he came over to Toronto via trade; so technically, he doesn't count in this case.
No, I'm talking about a player who made it clear they wanted to be in Toronto out of all the possible destinations, and if that criterion is to be followed then the clear number one answer in this case is DeMarre Carroll ... isn't that quite the name to pull out of the Raptors alumni hat?
Before signing with the Raptors in 2015 free agency, Carroll had made a name for himself as part of the Atlanta Hawks, a highly talented team that, despite its skill, couldn't quite get over the hump. That team featured players like Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, and Kyle Korver. Being the Hawks' primary 3-and-D wing, it served as a no-brainer when Toronto threw a four-year, $60 million contract for his services, to which Carroll accepted.
Raptors had high hopes for DeMarre Carroll, but the fit just wasn't right
Unfortunately for Raptors fans, the hope that Carroll could help Toronto as a perimeter defender with a decent jump shot — someone who could arguably guard a LeBron James destroyer in the playoffs— just did not come to fruition. Carroll struggled mightily in Toronto, facing major injury setbacks in his first year with the Raptors, and he never quite lived up to the cost paid for his services. Not to mention in the playoffs, where Carroll's services would've been greatly appreciated, he was borderline unplayable because of his sudden dropoff.
To put things simply, Carroll underperformed in every category he was praised for as a quality NBA role player, which left many Raptors fans feeling disappointed. Toronto ultimately decided that the only way out of this hole was to attach a 2018 first-round and second-round pick to Carroll's remaining contract and send him to Brooklyn. The Raptors completed this deal in July 2017, just two years after starting the DeMarre Carroll experiment.
You gotta feel for Toronto a bit here because they thought they were getting an overlooked stud who could prove to be a key difference-maker, but for one reason or another, the DeMarre Carroll flop in Toronto just happened. I don't think the Raptors' brass could have predicted this either, or else they would have steered away in free agency, but the circumstances simply didn't turn out right.
Sometimes you take a flyer on someone and it crashes right on takeoff, and that's just a slim, but grim chance that, in this case, came true for the Raptors.