The evolution of Terrence Ross

On November 3rd, 2015, Terrence Ross was signed to a 3 year, $33 million contract extension. Fast forward roughly one year; Ross is proving he’s worth the Toronto Raptors’ investment — and more.

Welcome to Toronto

Terrence Ross was drafted 8th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors – an entirely unfamiliar team, city and country for the Portland, Oregon native. The Raptors’ braintrust saw everything they wanted in the swingman after exhaustively scouting him at the University of Washington for two years. The feeling after hearing former NBA Commissioner, David Stern call Terrence Ross’ name was an all-too-familiar one for Raptors fans. Names of renowned Raptors’ draft busts such as Michael Bradley, Rafael Araujo and Joey Graham began to flood the minds of Raptors fans across the city.

“Who in the world did we just draft?”

Ross was selected before well-known NBA prospects such as Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb and Austin Rivers. Ross was projected by many media outlets to be drafted in the 15-30 range of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Then-Raptors general manager, Bryan Colangelo had different thoughts:

“Terrence was always listed for consideration at the eighth spot,” Colangelo said. “You don’t worry about where you’re drafting, you’re worried about what piece best fits your organization.

“We felt that Terrence was that guy.” (Source: Gilbert Coyle – The Canadian Press)

Terrence Ross [Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE]

The kid was athletic, had defensive ability and could shoot the lights out – he looked talented.

Rookie year

As Ross progressed through his wildly inconsistent rookie season, he became a ‘firecracker’ of sorts for the fans of Toronto. Ross dazzled fans with phenomenal dunks – ultimately winning the Slam Dunk Contest – a picture-perfect shooting stroke and a reserved, yet cheerful spirit.

Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (31) reacts as he is awarded the trophy for winning the 2013 NBA All-Star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Nevertheless, Ross’ game wasn’t all peaches and roses. The on-court production throughout his career has been a proverbial roller coaster. A supremely inconsistent player simply left fans scratching their heads. For instance, in his sophomore season, Ross absolutely exploded on the Los Angeles Clippers scoring a career-high 51 points. Ross was the talk of the city for days-on-end. Many failed to realize his next 7 games after the outburst, he would average a mere 9.9 points per game on

This has been the primary theme of Ross’ career – flashes of talent overshadowed by inconsistency.

The rough patch

Nearing the end of Ross’ sophomore year, the Raptors were slated for a juicy playoff matchup with the highly-experienced Brooklyn Nets led by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

After ultimately losing to Brooklyn in a wild game 7 finish and the following year, getting swept in the playoffs by the Washington Wizards, Raptors fans lost all patience.

Two consecutive 1st round playoff exits left Raptors fans no choice – the hunt for a scapegoat was on.

Frustrated fans immediately called for Terrence Ross to be traded.

Others were dreading the inevitable time in which the Raptors and general manager Masai Ujiri would open contract extension-talks with #31. Masai Ujiri ultimately did what he thought was best for Terrence Ross and the Toronto Raptors: Create internal competition not only for starters, but for every single roster spot.

The competition

Shortly after Ujiri’s declaration for ‘internal competition’ came a wide-eyed, hungry rookie hailing from UCLA.

Mar 26, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Norman Powell (24) dunks the ball while defended by New Orleans Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham (44) during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Raptors defeated the Pelicans 115-91. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The word ‘hungry’ probably doesn’t even do Norman Powell justice. ‘Starved’ or ‘malnourished’ might just do it. Powell, an uber-athletic prospect who glaringly reminded fans of a young DeMar DeRozan, was selected in the 2015 NBA Draft. Powell was taken with the 46th overall selection by the Milwaukee Bucks who subsequently traded his rights to the Toronto Raptors that night for veteran point guard, Greivis Vasquez and a 2017 1st round pick. After watching Powell tear up the team’s D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, everyone knew the Raptors had a gem on their hands. The raw tools were there, the attitude and most importantly, the maniacal work-ethic.

Terrence Ross felt the pressure increasing, no doubt.

As entertaining a league as the NBA is for fans, it is a dog-eat-dog world for professional athletes. If young professionals such as Ross aren’t improving year-to-year, organizations don’t flinch with decisions. Occasionally, players are lucky enough to be sent down to the NBA’s Developmental League. For others, they are given a pink slip with their NBA contract terminated immediately.

This is a real concern for many current NBA players, especially those as wildly inconsistent as Ross. In no way am I suggesting that Ross is in danger of losing his job, however inconsistency is a trait that can only be tolerated for so long.

The breakthrough

For Masai Ujiri, the ink is very much dry on Ross’ year-old contract extension. No matter how you slice it, an investment in Ross of roughly $11 million per year looks spectacular in today’s NBA where ordinary talents such as Portland Trail Blazers’ swingman Allen Crabbe are getting paid nearly $19M per year.

“T-Ross” as fans normally call him, is quietly having a breakout season this year. Thus far, Ross has posted career-highs in Steals, FG%, 3PT%, FT%, Player Efficiency Rating [PER] and Usage %. He also has recorded a career-low in Turnovers Per Game – citing smarter decisions with the ball.

Oct 5, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Terrence Ross (31) drives the ball between Los Angeles Clippers guard Raymond Felton (left) and forward Alan Anderson (right) during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Raptors head coach, Dwane Casey has found a perfect match for the skill-set of Terrence Ross. From Ross’ earlier days as a starter beside DeRozan, he is now instead used as a pseudo-6th man (along with Cory Joseph and Patrick Patterson).

Ross has now developed into an all-around ‘spark plug’ who can simply turn games upside-down with his shooting ability and highlight-making plays.

Like music to Raptors fans’ ears, Ross is finally driving into the lane with purpose rather than constantly settling for jumpers. He has also gotten back to his rookie ways of being disruptive defensively.

To conclude

In his fifth professional season, Ross is finally rounding out his game. Most importantly for the Toronto Raptors, he has happily embraced his role in the lineup.

It took a real organizational effort for the Toronto Raptors – full of ups and downs – however that is precisely what player development is all about.

At this moment, Terrence Ross is playing the best basketball of his career.

Oct 3, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and forward Terrence Ross (31) during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

It has been quite a journey for the 25-year-old. Along the way, Terrence Ross has achieved what many would consider a life-changing goal off the court – becoming a parent. Frequently, Ross posts photos of his son on his Instagram and Snapchat social media accounts (both being @3tross1 – for those interested). On multiple occasions, Ross has also brought his son with him to enjoy Raptors 905 exhibition games.

The experience of being a father, something teammate DeMar DeRozan went through mid-career as well, has evidently changed Ross for the better – on and off the court. As a result, fans are now seeing a more mature and disciplined person and athlete.

Still a fairly inconsistent player, he has found a comfort level and is enjoying life north of the border as an integral part of the Toronto Raptors’ rotation.

Fresh off a new contract extension, things seem to be rising high for Terrence Ross.

Sounds just the way it should be, doesn’t it?

All statistics retrieved by www.basketball-reference.com