Toronto Raptors: Spreading The Shooting Love

Kyle Lowry is obviously the best player on the Toronto Raptors. We can say that now without any fear of being reprimanded by our peers. But who’s the next-best player? Most fans’ initial reaction would be to garble out DeMar DeRozan’s name.

That may have been true with last season’s Raptors, but not this year. You want to come at me seeking my soul as payment for such a statement? Then you better come with a lot of chains and gunpowder, Ghost Rider, because DeMarre Carroll is the second-best player on Toronto.

Think about it. He’s a much better defender than DeRozan, he’s a better shooter than DeRozan, and he’s so used to whipping the orange around and moving off-ball in the Spurs-esque system of the Hawks that he doesn’t need isolation plays to be effective.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT: 25 Best Players To Play For The Raptors

The dude is more of a grinder, a hustle beast, than his shooting guard buddy. He’s just a better all-around player. The only area that DeRozan has him bested in (by far) is getting to the free throw line and making them.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at their stat lines side-by-side from last season:

2014-15 DeRozan: 20.1ppg, 4.6rpg, 3.5apg, 1.2spg, 41.3 FG%, 28.4 3FG%, 83.2 FT%, 35 minutes
2014-15 Carroll: 12.6ppg, 5.3rpg, 1.7apg, 1.3spg, 48.7 FG%, 39.5 3FG%, 70.2 FT%, 31.3 minutes

Once again, Carroll’s numbers become that much more impressive when you consider the team he was on and the system he played in. He didn’t get to hold the ball. He was playing with four All-Stars! In fact, Carroll’s usage rate was just 16.9 percent (that’s also the highest of his career).

More from Toronto Raptors

DeRozan, on the other hand, played in a system that allowed him to isolate all the time and get his points that way. He only had to worry about one All-Star teammate, so there was plenty of time for him to get his. His usage rate blows Carroll’s out of the water at 28.4 percent (the highest of his career, as well).

Because DeMar ended up taking so many shots in iso, the looks he got weren’t always the best. Indeed, that’s been one of the toughest parts of DeRozan’s career: trying to choose his spots. He still hasn’t gotten it down pat, so much so that I’m willing to bet there will be a rise of bald-headed people across Canada the day following opening night just from ripping their hair out.

What am I suggesting? Now that Carroll’s on a different team that can utilize him more, allow him to take more shots! Consequently, DeRozan’s will go down. But by all accounts, it should make the Raptors an even better offensive team, although perhaps not better than last season (third overall in offensive rating) since you have to consider other offseason changes.

DeRozan took 16.5 field goal attempts last season. Heck, Lowry shot a nearly identical percentage (41.2) and took 14.9 attempts. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a higher number of shots go in?

Quick note: I am by no means attempting to chastise the player who has now become Skinny Lowry and who I am still campaigning for to take the nickname Slim Reaper that Kevin Durant didn’t want. OK? OK.

Carroll only took 9.3 attempts last season and 4.3 (!!!) of those were three-point looks. In other words, there was no isolation ball for him and his shots came within the offense. He knows how to score and when to shoot.

Giving a guy like that the green light doesn’t seem like that tough of a decision to make, especially when the two other players who were given the green light last season shot about the same percentage as Stephen Curry from the third row of the stands.

So while Skinny Lowry (SLIM REAPER!?) still gets the captain badge, the inefficiencies of DeRozan are too eye-watering to ignore. Either he changes that (which he could; remember, we’re watching Contract Year DeRozan now) or Dwane Casey starts letting the second-best player on the team take the second-most shots.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Next: 50 Greatest NBA Players Of The 1970s

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Toronto Raptors