Midseason Grades For The Toronto Raptors
By Justin Rowan
Patrick Patterson
Grade: B+
Stats: 7.5 points, 5.5 rebounds per game, 36.5 FG%, 36.6 3P%
Patrick Patterson started the season in one of the worst shooting slumps of his career. The Raptors stretch 4 takes two-thirds of his shots from behind the arc, but couldn’t get anything to fall during the season’s opening weeks.
Despite a round first half of November, he finished strong to bring his three-point percentage for the month to better than 35 percent. Since then his three-point percentage has inflated to 40.7 percent in December and 50 percent in January.
But as always with Patterson his true value goes beyond the box score.
The impact Patterson has on the Raptors cannot be understated. When he’s on the floor, the team’s offensive rating improves by 5.9 points, and the defensive rating improves by 5.6 points. The team’s three best lineups in terms of net rating all include Patterson.
The Raptors big man rotation is thin on experience and defensive ability. Patterson’s well rounded game brings stability and experience to that position. When Patterson went down in the opening minutes of the Raptors game against the Phoenix Suns, the team was put into a tailspin.
They went 2-3, including the loss to the Suns, with Patterson out of the lineup.
Outside of Lowry and DeRozan, no player is more important to the Raptors than Patterson. Power forward is often pointed to as the biggest hole in the Raptors roster.
While they do require a more dynamic player in their frontcourt, Patterson’s play off the bench has been vital to Toronto’s success.