Player Report Cards For the 2012-13 Season

After another lost season with no playoffs, it’s now time to make ourselves try and feel better by looking at the individual report card scores for each player on this roster. Who needs summer school?

Note- grades relative to player expectations. For example, if LeBron averaged 20-2-1 he would get a D+ because that’s way below what he should be producing. 

Linas Kleiza- F

20 G, 7.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.8 APG

Tough year for the Lithuanian forward this year. Injured for the majority of the season, Kleiza is a likely amnesty target at this point as there are reports indicating that he may not even play again. I personally still think he has solid role player potential when he’s healthy, but at this point it’s clear that it won’t work out and it’s time to stop eating his cap hit.

Andrea Bargnani- F

35 G, 12.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.1 APG

After some optimism coming into the season, Bargnani posted a very, very disappointing year. Bargnani was injured, booed, and seemed out of place offensively for when he was in the line-up. However, I’m still a believer that he can fit well in this team. But, as Dwane Casey said, they have to get the talent out of him, and we can only hope if Bargnani isn’t dealt this offseason a healthy, motivated Bargnani will come in and give the team that stretch forward they need.

Michael Pietrus- D- 

19 G, 5.3 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.5 APG

Pietrus was brought in for purposes other than locker room entertainment and filling out the roster, however that is what he ended up being. He had some minutes when the Raps were filled with injuries, but other than that, was a pretty useless season for someone that used to be a very solid role player and elite defender.

Landry Fields- D 

51 G, 4.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.2 APG

Fields averaged less points than his pay-cheque. A little sad. In all seriousness, Fields has to fix his shot mechanics if he wants a shot at being a solid role player again. He had a pretty bad year, but improvement seems imminent, and he should be able to get 15-20 productive minutes a game next year. Will he ever live up to that contract? No way, but blame Colangelo for that one.

Terrence Ross- D+ 

73 G, 6.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.7 APG

Dunk contest aside, this was a pretty disappointing year for Ross. He was supposed to be NBA ready, yet his three-point shot clearly hasn’t adapted to the extended range, and he looked out of place far too often. Hopefully he puts in some work this offseason, as Ross does have tremendous potential and if he pans out the Raptors will have a fantastic wing rotation for years to come.

Kyle Lowry- D+ 

68 G, 11.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.4 APG

Lowry had a very disappointing year. Coming into the season, there was a ton of optimism surrounding the Raptors solely because of the Lowry acquisition. He started off very strong, and then yeah, you can read the rest here. Lowry acknowledged the fact that he didn’t play his best, and he was disappointing in himself. Part of it was him being out of shape, and part of it was Casey not giving him the freedom.

Towards the end of the year we started to see a spark, and this is because Casey finally gave Lowry freedom to call 60% of the plays on offense. Hopefully next year we see more of this, and Lowry goes back to being Lowry.

Sebastian Telfair- C- 

13 G, 4.3 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 3.0 APG

For a guy that didn’t really get much burn this season, it was hard to evaluate Telfair. The guy seems like he fits in with the style of play for this team, and wouldn’t be a terrible back-up point guard if there aren’t other options.

Alan Anderson- C- 

65 G, 10.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.6 APG

Anderson was the biggest ball-hog/chucker on the team this year. Taking ill-advised shots seemed to be his thing, but when he got hot he really did provide a spark. This was the best year of his career, so it’s hard to give him this bad of a grade, but he was just such a negative at times. With that being said, please don’t bring this guy back. Please.

John Lucas III- C

63 G, 5.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG, 1.7 APG

John Lucas really isn’t a point guard. The guy takes way too many shots, and his style of play really makes it hard for the bench to get into any kind of rhythm. He put up averages similar to what he’s been doing his whole career- you know what you are going to get with Lucas. There is a team option for next year on his contract, and I personally hope it is not picked up.

Aaron Gray- C

42 G, 2.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.8 APG

It’s Aaron Gray. Can’t really expect more than that.

Rudy Gay- B- 

33 G, 19.5 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.8 APG

Gay is an impact player, bottom line. We will get more into it later, but Gay started to show flashes of excellence in his time with Toronto. He has to get his efficiency up, but his raw scoring has been very solid with the Raps, and hopefully next year when the chemistry issues get resolved (and his eye issues) we will change this to an A for all-star.

Quincy Acy- B+ 

29 G, 4.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 0.4 APG

This may be a second round pick actually worth keeping. Acy looks like a 4th big man in a rotation (5 minutes per night) that can provide instant energy on any team in this league. When he was given minutes, he was productive, and did all of the dirty work that nobody else wanted to do. He’s not very skilled, but as he said, you can’t take away his heart.

DeMar DeRozan- A- 

82 G, 18.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.5 APG

Another year with no games missed for DeRozan. His development was evident, even though the stats may not completely say so. The post moves, passing, mid-range looked much improved, and at this point, the tighter handles, longer range, and improved defense is all that separates him and an all-star. He was definitely one of the bright spots this year, and this will be a huge offseason for him.

Jonas Valanciunas- A- 

62 G, 8.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.7 APG, 1.3 BPG

Solid campaign for the rookie. The injury, as well as Dwane Casey limiting his minutes slowed him down, but when he started getting consistent time down the stretch you really saw how much of a beast this kid can be. He leaves Raptors fans with some serious optimism going forward.

Amir Johnson- A

81 G, 10.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.5 APG

Amir is the heart and soul of this team, bottom line. Who thought this guy could get any better? He is just a warrior that seems to play through every injury, and has just been phenomenal this year. This guy is the first big off the bench on a championship squad at the moment, and there is no doubt that Amir Johnson is a keeper. What a year.

Dwane Casey- D+ 

I’ve criticized Casey heavily all year, but I would say it’s for good reason. He made a ton of mistakes, whether it was offensive sets, rotations, time-out plays, inbound plays, or the rookies. However, I guess I’ve realized that Casey is still learning as well, and he’s starting to get better. Hopefully he figures out how to use this team better with a full training camp, and a better coaching staff is hired to help him draw up inbound plays.