Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023-24 revision of our top 50 Toronto Raptors.

As for all of our top 50 players in basketball, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Basketball Association.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Raptors went all out, as in jettisoning all players out.  That was an exaggeration, but beyond Scottie Barnes, there were not many reasons to watch a Toronto game.  Nevertheless, there were a few elevations.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Kyle Lowry
2. Chris Bosh
3. Vince Carter
4. DeMar DeRozan
5. Pascal Siakam

You can find the entire list here.

Pascal Siakam was unable to climb up from #5 before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers.

O.G. Anunoby, who was traded to the New York Knicks during the season, went up one spot to #13.

Former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes climbed to #17 from #26.

Jakob Poeltl went from #31 to #25.

Gary Trent Jr, who is now with Milwaukee, reached #30 from #33.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB. Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives. As such, it is important to us that the Toronto Raptors will be retiring the number 15 of Vince Carter.

The event will take place when the Raptors host Sacramento on November 2.

Carter joined the Raptors via a draft-day trade in 1998 and immediately brought eyeballs to the struggling expansion team.  Carter easily won the Rookie of the Year, and the man christened “Half-Man Half-Amazing” electrified the league with his dunks and scoring acumen.  He easily won the 2000 Slam Dunk competition and became one of the most known basketball players in the world.

From 1999-00 to 2003-04, Carter was a perennial All-Star and was a Third Team All-NBA selection in 99/00 and Second Team All-NBA in 2001.  He averaged 23.4 Points per Game as a Raptor, but it was a very acrimonious departure from Toronto, as Carter became frustrated with team management, became a malcontent in 2004, and wanted out.  He received his wish, but for the next ten years, Carter was the most hated man in Toronto, mercilessly booed with every appearance regardless of the team he was on.  It softened eventually, especially after Toronto won the NBA Championship in 2019.

Carter becomes the first player to have his number retired by the Raptors.  It is believed that the delay in this retirement might come from some higher-ups in Raptor management who thought that Kyle Lowry, who led them to their lone title in 2019, should be the first, but Carter put the team on the map.

This will be a special year for Carter, who will also have his number retired by the Nets this year.  On October 13, he will headline the 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Vince Carter for his impending honor.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Toronto Raptors.

As for all of our top 50 players in basketball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Basketball Association.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Toronto only made it to the play-in round, but when you have a franchise this young, you will see fluctuation in a top 50, even in a mediocre year.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a new number five:

1. Kyle Lowry

2. Chris Bosh

3. Vince Carter

4. DeMar DeRozan

5. Pascal Siakam

You can find the entire list here.

Siakam continues his climb, and has done enough to breach the top five.

Fred VanVleet, who is now with the Houston Rockets, climbed to #8 from #12.

Shooting Guard, O.G. Anunoby moved up to #14 from #20.

Former Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes, advanced ten spots to #26.

Center, Jakob Poeltl, who returned last year, shot up nine spots to #31.  This jump, despite only 24 more Games was a testament to Poeltl’s efficiency and Toronto’s overall brevity in length.

The lone new entry was Gary Trent, who debuts at #33.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Traded from the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2020/21 Season for Norman Powell, Gary Trent who became Toronto’s starting Shooting Guard.

Trent had his best year with the Raptors in his first full season with the North, finishing third in Steals per Game (1.7), and what is currently a career-high in Points per Game (18.3), and he followed that with a similar season (17.4 Points and 1.6 Steals per Game).  Going into 2023-24, Trent will lost starting minutes to O.G. Anunoby, and it would be his last season in a Raptors uniform as he joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024 as a free agent.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2021/22 revision of our top Toronto Raptors.

As for all of our top 50 players in basketball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Basketball Association. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Toronto returned to the playoffs, but were bounced in the first round.  The impact of 2021-22 yielded three elevations and one new entrant.

As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:

1. Kyle Lowry

2. Chris Bosh

3. Vince Carter

4. DeMar DeRozan

5. Jose Calderon

You can find the entire list here.

Notably, last year’s All-NBA Third Team Selection, Pascal Siakim, was unable to advance from #7.

Last year’s first-time All-Star, Fred Van Vleet, advanced from #12 to #8.

Big man, Chris Boucher, continues his surprise ascendence on this list, moving three spots to #18.

Small Forward, O.G. Anunoby, moves to #20 from #23.

The only new entrant is Scottie Barnes, last season’s Rookie of the Year who debuts at #36.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

A Gold Medalist in the FIBA U-19 World Cup in 2019, Scottie Barnes turned heads in his lone season at Florida State, winning the ACC Freshman of the Year, but it was a little puzzling that he went fourth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft.  Toronto knew exactly what they were doing.

The Power Forward became a starter for the Raptors on day one, and he would become the third Raptor following Damon Stoudamire and Vince Carter to win the Rookie of the Year.  Barnes averaged 15 Points with 7.5 Rebounds in his debut campaign, with him showing typical numbers with a defensive deficiency in advanced metrics, but that is typical of youth.  Barnes regressed in his second season, while although matching his PPG of 15.3, his other stats across the board dipped, though was poised for a breakout in his third season.

Last season, Barnes made it to his first All-Star Game, and with the mid-season trade of other stars (Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby) he became the face of the team.  Barnes should be able to build on his 19.9 PPG year.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that Larry Tannenbaum, the Chairman of the Toronto Raptors, announced that Kyle Lowry will eventually have his number 7 retired by the team.

In an interview with the Athletic, Tannenbaum had this to say about Lowry, who signed with Miami this offseason:

"He will retire as a Raptor and his number will absolutely go up there. The honor will be the first one [for the Raptors] and I love Kyle. I love his leadership. I love his intelligence. I love his passion. I truly love Kyle... When he made the decision [to leave Toronto and join the Heat], he called me and we talked about it and I was so happy for him because I know one day he's going to come back."  

This is of course, tentative, and we look forward to reporting when this is official, and when his Lowry’s name is hung from the rafters of the Air Canada Center.  

In our recent revision of our all-time Top 50 Toronto Raptors, Lowry moved up to number one.

We would like to congratulate Kyle Lowry for this impeding honor.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021-22 revision of our top 50 Toronto Raptors.

As for all of our top 50 players in basketball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NBA. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note, that this is our first revision in four years, which includes the 2019 Championship Season.  This has resulted in many changes, and nine new entries, and a brand new number one, Kyle Lowry, who climbed from his number four slot.

As always, we present our top five immediately, though nothing has changed in this upper-tier.

1. Kyle Lowry

2. Chris Bosh

3. Vince Carter

4. DeMar DeRozan

5. Jose Calderon

You can find the entire list here.

There is a lot more than Kyle Lowry’s ascendence to the top.

Pascal Siakam, who was an All-Star last year, enters at #7.

Kawhi Leonard, whose playoff heroics won the Raptors a title comes in at #11.

Starting Point Guard, Fred Van Vleet debuts at #12.

Norman Powell moved from #50 to #19.

Small Forward, O.G. Anunoby makes his first appearance at #23.

Center, Chris Boucher enters at #24.

Former Raptor Guard, Delon Wright, is #30.

Another former Raptor, Jakob Poeltl, is ranked #40.

Marc Gasol, who also is no longer with Toronto, is #44.

Danny Green, another one-year Raptor on the 2019 Championship winning team, is at #47.

We definitely won’t wait four years on this one again!

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

The biggest trade in Raptors history was Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozan, but it can’t be dismissed how important the add-on of Danny Green was in Toronto.

Green was in his ninth NBA season, and he would start all 80 Games for Toronto at Shooting Guard.  Providing many clutch shots from the three-point arc, Green had a career-high .455 3P% which was good enough for second in the NBA. Green was also very good defensively, and his presence in the locker room was also positive.

Like Leonard, he left via free agency for Los Angeles, though in his case, it was the Lakers.  Green’s contributions in Toronto, although it was brief, will not be forgotten by Raptors fans.

It can be argued that the missing piece of Toronto’s puzzle was Marc Gasol, a three-time All-Star with Memphis, whose veteran presence the Raptors gave up Jonas Valincuinas for.  It was a heavy cost, but it worked out.

Gasol was not as productive as J.V. in terms of stats, but he was a proven veteran who helped to alter the team chemistry.  The Spaniard was fantastic for Toronto after the trade, and he helped the Raptors win the 2019 NBA Championship.

Gasol played one more year with Toronto, providing defense and leadership before he traveled back west to join the Lakers, his older brother's former team.

Including playoffs, only 84 Games. 

That is all that Kawhi Leonard played for the Toronto Raptors, and if you want to place him at number one and build a 50-foot statue outside the Air Canada Center, we get it.   After all, the Raptors don't win the 2019 NBA Championship without him.

Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri rolled the dice in what has to be considered one of the biggest gambles in sports transactions.  He traded his top player, DeMar DeRozan, an All-Star who wanted to stay in Toronto, for a bigger name, Leonard, but one who had become miserable and longed to play in his hometown of Los Angeles once his contract was up.  It was a short-term play to go for it, and it worked.

Leonard arrived as the top player he had already proved to be, and he meshed well with his new teammates.  His tenacious play on both ends set the team’s ethos, and he would be a Second Team All-Star, Second Team All-Defensive Player with a 26.6 PPG and a PER over 25.

Leonard was an absolute beast in the 2019 Playoffs.  Not only was the overwhelming choice as the Finals MVP, his heart-stopping buzzer-beater that bounced four times off the rim before falling through was the shot that put won them Game 7 against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final.  The “Claw” did what was thought of as impossible, bring a title to a city where many NBA players did not want to go to.

As expected, Leonard left for L.A., joining the Clippers, but the Raptors fans were not upset.  Leonard never promised to stay, and he delivered what was once thought of as impossible.

Delon Wright was one of those players who, even though he was a bench player, was vastly underappreciated while he was a Raptor.

A First Rounder and Second Team All-American from Utah, Wright was Toronto's backup Point Guard for three-and-a-half seasons, providing defensive prowess and a nice change of pace.  In Wright's fourth season, he was traded to Memphis with Jonas Valincuinas for Marc Gasol, and Toronto went on to win the NBA Title.  Wright might not have been part of that championship, but he was a reason they got there. 

After four years at Wichita State (including a "shocking" trip to the Final Four," Fred Van Vleet signed as an undrafted Free Agent with the Toronto Raptors in 2016.  Usually, undrafted American players don't make the NBA, but someone forgot to tell Fred Van Vleet.

Van Vleet, who was a two-time MVC Player of the Year, would turn out to be a steal.  The Point Guard appeared in 37 Games as a rookie and 76 in his second year.  Van Vleet saw more action in his third year (2018-19), starting a third of his games and helping Toronto win the NBA Title.

Playing more at Shooting Guard afterward, Van Vleet became a permanent starter after the championship season, elevating his PPG to 17.6 and up to what is currently a career-high of 19.6 in 2020-21, a year in which Toronto slumped, and Van Vleet was required to do more heavy lifting.  Over the last three seasons, Van Vleet has finished in the top ten in both Steals per Game and Minutes per Game, with him cracking 20 Points per Game fo rthe first time last season, with a trip to his first All-Star Game.  VanVleet had another good year with the Raps, approcahing 20 PPG  season with the Raptors, but it would be his last, as he left for Houston via free agency.

From Vienna, Jakob Poeltl played in the Austrian League for two years before going to Utah, where in 2016, he won the Pac-12 Player of the Year.  The Raptors used their First Round Pick (9^th Overall) to take the Center, and he would play his first two seasons in the North.

Poeltl averaged a little over 11 minutes per game as a rookie in the 54 Games he played for the Raptors, which may not seem like much, but it was clear from the start that he was a defensive asset.  In his sophomore season, Poeltl played in all 82 Games, the only Raptor to do so, though he did so from the bench.  Averaging 18.6 Minutes, Poeltl averaged 1.2 Blocks per Game and was 15^th Overall in Blocks.  

Poeltl was showing his effectiveness, but he was thrown in on the deal that traded DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard.   The Raptors ever forgot Poeltl, and traded for him during his 2022-23 season where he continued his quiet production, but now as a starting Center.

What Chris Boucher has been able to accomplish has been nothing short of inspirational.

Born in St. Lucia and raised in Canada, Boucher went from New Mexico Junior College, Northwest College, and then to Oregon.  Boucher went undrafted and signed with Golden State, playing one minute for the Dubs and mostly with Santa Clara of the G-League.  The Warriors cut bait with Boucher, and he signed with the Raptors, winning the G-League MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, and also seeing limited action in the Raptors' NBA Championship.

The Center had an established lockdown defensive game, and his days in the G-League were over.  Boucher came off the bench for Toronto over the last two years, with him averaging 24.2 Minutes per Game in 2020-21, with a fifth-place finish in Blocks per Game (1.9).  Notably, in his first three full seasons in Toronto, he never had a year in Toronto where his PER was under 20, an incredible achievement that should turn heads.

Boucher is still providing a solid role in Toronto, that has largely gone unnoticed outside of the Raptors fan base.

O.G. Anunoby was a late First Round Pick (23^rd) from Indiana, and in a mild surprise, he was logging most of the starts as a rookie.

Anunoby helped Toronto win the 2019 NBA Championship, and while he averaged the same amount of Minutes per Game that he did as a rookie, he did so off the bench, as the Raptors had Kawhi Leonard that year.  With Leonard departing for the Clippers afterward, Anunoby was again a starter, showing even better defense and finally breaking through offensively in 2020-21 with a 15.9 PPG.  He built on that with an increased 17.1 PPG in 2021-22.  In 2002-23, Anunoby took another leap, as he was the NBA's leader in Steals per Game (1.9), and earned a Second Team All-Defensve nod.

Going into 2023-24, the Raptors were in clear rebuilding mode and shipped off Anunoby to the Knicks.  Overall as a Raptor, Anunoby played 395 Games with a 11.8 PPG.

Pascal Siakam was a late starter in basketball, as the Cameroonian did not play until his early teens.  He was a natural and moved to the U.S. at age sixteen to develop his skills, which would land him at New Mexico State.  Siakam won the WAC Player of the Year, but he was not expected to do that much as a pro.  The Raptors took him late (27^th) in the 2016 Draft, and the project that was Pascal Siakam began.

Siakam played a good amount of his rookie season in the G-League, winning a title and Finals MVP there, after which the Power Forward stayed with the Raptors for good.  A backup for most of 2017-18, Siakam became a starter in 2018-19, in a season where it felt like he improved with every game played.  Siakam was electric in the playoffs, playing a large part in their first NBA Championship.  For his regular season efforts, Siakam won the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year Award.

Siakam was no longer going to sneak up on anyone, but he got even better in 2019-20, went to his first All-Star Game, and collected a Second Team All-NBA nod, and averaging 22.9 Points per Game.  Emerging as the Raptors top player, he averaged over 20 Points per Game for the rest of his Raptors career, adding a Third-Team All-NBA in 2021-22, and a second All-Star the year after.  He also was a certified workhorse for the club, leading the NBA in Minutes per Game in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Emtering 2023-24, the Raptors were in clear rebuilding mode, and Siakam was traded to the surging Indiana Pacers.  When it was all said and done, Siakam left Jurrasic Park as one of the most important players in franchise history.

Fiercely passionate about sports, nothing gets Canadian fans more excited than beating those noisy neighbors from south of the border. Whenever that happens, it’s always a cause for wild celebrations, especially when major league championships are at stake. Let’s take a look at which teams have enjoyed the most success.

NFL

Compared to all the other major professional sports competitions, the NFL is the only one that has never featured a Canadian franchise. However, that could change in the coming years if Toronto billionaire entrepreneur Pat Mazza gets his way.

Instead, the Canadian Football League (CFL) is the professional competition north of the border, played under a slightly different set of rules to those of the NFL. Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the most successful CFL team of all time, winning the Grey Cup 25 times.

Nevertheless, numerous Canadian gridiron players have enjoyed solid NFL careers. The most successful was quarterback Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins, who won the Super Bowl twice and the Super Bowl XXVI MVP in 1992.

NBA

Professional basketball has largely struggled to make inroads in Canada. While there is the Canadian Elite Basketball League and the National Basketball League of Canada, the NBA has never featured more than one team from north of the border.

In 1995 the Vancouver Grizzlies franchise moved to Memphis in the United States, although they were immediately replaced by the Toronto Raptors, who debuted in the NBA the same year.

Like many new franchise teams, life was difficult at first. Nevertheless, the Toronto Raptors have continued building and improving. After becoming a regular in recent years, the whole of Canada celebrated when the Raptors triumphed in the 2018-19 NBA Finals.

MLB

While there are many professional minor league teams located in Canada, of the current 30 Major League Baseball franchise teams, just one hails from north of the border. This is the Toronto Blue Jays, who were part of the 1977 MLB expansion.

The Blue Jays have won the World Series twice in 1992 and 1993, boasting the honor of being the only Canadian team ever to achieve that feat. Sadly, their only success in recent years was to win the MLB East Division title in 2015.

As this Interac Casinos article highlights, it’s fair to say that online gambling is arguably more popular than baseball in Canada, where online operators are more established compared to those in the United States.

NHL

Considering the fact that professional ice hockey was a Canadian creation, over the last few decades, there has been a surprising lack of NHL and Stanley Cup champions from the Big White North.

It wasn’t until 1927 when teams from the United States began to join the NHL, with the first major expansion. As more American teams joined and started becoming successful, the balance of power largely remained with the Canadian teams, up until around the 1980s.

The most successful NHL franchise of all time is the Montreal Canadiens, who have lifted the Stanley Cup on 24 occasions. However, the last of those was back in 1993, almost three decades ago, which underlines how much American teams now dominate the NHL.

MLS

Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world, although it took a long time to be embraced in North America as a major sport. The MLS was launched after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, enjoying phenomenal growth since then.

While they didn’t participate when the MLS debuted in 1996, three Canadian teams are now prominent members of the competition. The first was Toronto FC in 2005, followed by CF Montreal in 2010, then Vancouver Whitecaps in 2011.

The strongest team from Canada is undoubtedly Toronto FC, who have reached the MLS Cup final three times in the last five seasons, winning the overall championship decider once in 2019. They are probably the best hope for sustained Canadian success in major league sports.

Our slow and methodical process of putting together the top 50 players from every franchise continues and it is just in time for the upcoming NBA season. Today we present one of the newest franchises, the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors have never won an NBA Championship, nor have they been to the Finals but as of this writing have had their best string of regular and post season success in the last few years. With a team this young this is not exactly an All Star team but that is to be expected and it will be fun to watch this list fluctuate in the coming years.

The entire list can be found here, but as per tradition we are offering the top five here.

1. Chris Bosh

2. Vince Carter

3. DeMar DeRozan

4. Kyle Lowry

5. Jose Calderon

Up next is the recent loser in the American League Wild Card Game, the Minnesota Twins.

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com we encourage you to take a look at this new list and offer your opinions!

Dell Curry will be far better known for being Steph’s father and for his run in Charlotte but he was actually with the Toronto Raptors for his last three seasons bringing a veteran presence to the team.  Statistically speaking Dell Curry was a fraction of what he was as a Hornet but he still could jack up a three from time to time coming off of the bench.