Terrence Ross is a tough player to put a dollar value on after three-plus years of enticing but largely inconsistent performance. The changing NBA economy, thanks to a rapidly increasing salary cap, has conspired to make evaluating new contracts difficult. The three-year, $31-million extension the Raptors signed Ross to late Monday, then, is a perfect storm of shrug-inducing ambiguity.
It’s a big contract, but not one that stands to be untradeable as the cap rises. It’s more than Ross has proven he’s worth, but not more than a hypothetical version of Ross would be worth after reaching his potential. Ross needs to improve for this to be a good deal, but outsiders have no idea of knowing how that process is coming along or how committed Ross may be to it. Nobody knows that except for Ross and, to a degree, the Raptors organization. And if the dollar-figure on the contract didn’t make it obvious enough, the Raptors believe in Terrence Ross, the player and the person.
Here’s vice-president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman explaining the deal Tuesday, as relayed by The Toronto Sun:
What we’re doing is betting on the person. We’re saying all the ingredients are there, the development curve is heading in the right direction and we’re betting that he’s going to continue along that path.
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Any time you have a rookie contract the guys, just by definition, are at a stage in their career where they’re probably yet to realize their potential so you’ve got to find that middle ground between where you think the player will go and where he is now. That’s why a lot of extensions don’t get done.But, yeah, we like to feel we’ve found some middle ground with Terrence where we’re paying him in the hope that he becomes a great player and we think he has that in him.
The alternative to getting a deal done and betting on Ross was waiting until the summer, when they’d be negotiating for a more certain commodity but doing so with competition. The Raptors clearly feel they’ve found a price point at which the risk-reward of the early deal tilted in Ross’ favor. Now it’s on the player to vindicate the team.
