Terrence Ross has been shooting the lights out this season for the Toronto Raptors, but I’m still not 100% convinced. He had a great game against the Bucks where he shot well finishing with 24 points in 21 minutes and then didn’t shoot great against the Sixers where he finished with 13 points. On Friday, Ross looked like did nothing for 3 quarters after shooting 1-3 with 3 points, but he managed to finish with 10 points shooting over 50% from the field.

Ross isn’t turning the ball over and isn’t making a lot of the bonehead mistakes he’s made in previous seasons. Is that enough to say he’s a good basketball player? If he continues shooting the way he has been this season, Ross becomes a very good role player as a three-point specialist.

Year	MIN	FG	3P	FT	RPG	APG	TPG	SPG	PPG
2012-13	16:58	40.7%	33.2%	71.4%	2	0.7	0.7	0.6	6.4
2013-14	26:39	42.3%	39.5%	83.7%	3.1	1	1.1	0.8	10.9
2014-15	25:30	41%	37.2%	78.6%	2.8	1	0.8	0.6	9.8
2015-16	23:56	43.1%	38.6%	79%	2.5	0.8	0.6	0.7	9.9
2016-17	19:48	49.7%	44.7%	90.6%	2	0.6	0.4	1	11

As you can see from year two to year four, there wasn’t much improvement from Terrence Ross.

3 & D

A lot of people are putting a premium on 3 and D players. It makes sense because the three-pointer is currently being used at an insanely high clip around the NBA. And it would be nice to have a three- point shooter that isn’t a one-dimensional player. That is where the D often comes in. People seem to think Terrence Ross is a good defensive player which I personally don’t see. He’s not a liability on D, but at the same time, he isn’t great. Ross’s defensive box score plus/minus (DBPM) is -1.6 and his defensive rating is 109. To put that into perspective, DeMar DeRozan, a known bad defender’s DBPM is -1.9 and his defensive rating is 110. Based on those numbers you could say Ross is a slightly better defender than DeRozan, but it would be hard to conclude Ross was a good defender.

Playoffs

I have two major gripes with Terrence Ross. Him not using his physical gifts on a regular basis and his deplorable play in the playoffs.

Year	MPG	FG	3P	FT	RPG	APG	TPG	SPG	PPG
2013-14	22.6	29.8%	16.7%	60%	2	0.3	1.1	0.9	5
2014-15	26.8	37.9%	33.3%	-	1.5	1	0.5	0.8	7
2015-16	16.8	38.7%	32.8%	65%	1.6	0.6	0.8	0.7	6.3

I get that Ross might have been overwhelmed making the playoffs in his second season in the NBA, but there’s no way anyone should give him a pass for all three post-season blunders. It’s not all about the numbers. I remember one playoff game where Ross had committed multiple bonehead plays including a backcourt violation.

Will the Real Terrence Ross Please Stand Up

If we are currently witnessing the real Terrence Ross and he can translate his regular season game into the playoffs I will be satisfied with him as a basketball player for the Toronto Raptors. However, there is a real possibility Ross’s current numbers this season aren’t maintainable. It is extremely rare to maintain peak Kyle Korver numbers and that is essentially what Terrence Ross is trying to do. In 2014, Kyle Korver shot 48.7% from the field and 49.2 from three. Okay, so Ross is shooting 4.5% less from three, but 1% more from the field. Not quite as good, but still comparable considering the Hawks had one of the best offensive systems in the league that season (2nd in the NBA in APG). The Raptors are currently 24th in the NBA this season in assists per game which actually happens to be an improvement from last year, where they finished 29th.

Sell High?

Ross is currently playing the best basketball he has ever played. If you believe this is the highest Ross’s value will ever be it might make sense for the Raptors to trade him. Furthermore, the Raptors are stacked with talent on the wing with DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Caroll, and Norman Powell. So losing Ross would actually open up some playing time for Powell, which he badly deserves. However, you might be an optimist and think Ross is still young and he will to continue to develop and improve. I myself personally believe this is the highest Ross’s value will ever be because there was no real development in his game from year two to year four and he isn’t much more than a three-point specialist.

Do you think it’s time to trade Terrence Ross? Let me know.