Remember when Coca Cola released New Coke? I mean, I don’t personally remember as it happened before I was born, but I still know about it. It’s one of those cultural items that somehow is known and still remembered despite being incredibly inconsequential to almost everyone/everything, but it remains one of those quirky stories.
In 1985 Coca Cola changed their drink formula in an attempt to compete with Pepsi who had been steadily cutting into their revenue stream. The strategy was to make the new formula sweeter as they thought it would appeal more to the general public, and taste tests even confirmed this before the release.
The experiment lasted just a few months before they returned to the original formula and re-released it under the name “Coca Cola Classic.” Proving that rebranding isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Here at Raptors Republic though, we’re onto the second rebranding of Ross this season.
He began as Terrence Ross, transitioned to the initially successful Terry Ross that teased/dazzled us during preseason, only now to become TJ Ross over the last week.
Unlike Coke though, this rebrand isn’t based on an original that the majority of people loved, but rather one of the most frustrating players on the Raptors roster (I thought about using stronger words here, but we all remember the Bargnani years…and my soul hurts just thinking about it).
It’s been a wild few months for Terrence/Terry/TJ: he lost his starting spot to the newly acquired DeMarre Carroll, lost minutes to Cory Joseph as well, had three names, two rebrands, a new headband, and one massive new extension.
And that last one appears to be the biggest problem facing the rebrand. Even with the recent explosion of the salary cap, and the incredible jump in cap space that will happen again this coming summer, it’s still hard to argue that Ross is worth his new three year, $33 million extension that kicks in this coming summer.
Tim Chisholm did his best to understand the contract this past week, and I tend to agree with him. Particularly with this gem:
That isn’t to say that I think Ross is going to blossom into the calibre of player that DeRozan is. I really, really don’t see that happening. However, I do believe that Ujiri saw where the market forces were going, assessed a value for Ross, convinced him and his agent to come in at-or-below that value, and signed him (this is the exact same process he applied to Valanciunas, too). In his estimation, he got Ross on a deal that will prove to be at-or-below market value by next summer, and I believe that is what is going to make Ross an easy player to trade when the right asset comes along that will actually help the Raptors.
As underwhelming as Ross has been to date, and as undeserving as he appears to be of his new contract so far, I still can’t help but believe he would be imminently tradeable. There is value to him as a player for any team that can help bring consistency to his game. He shows the whole package in pieces, and the hope is that he is able to put it all together and make this extension a bargain.
Which is the annoying part is about all of this. Ross could be anything from a quick trade fix, to a dynamic sixth man, or the long term starter that could replace DeRozan if he leaves during free agency this coming summer. And no one can know for certain at the moment.
To borrow a phrase synonymous with Andrea Bargnani, Ross is an enigma. He is a riddle that no one has been able to unpack, and in a lot of ways reminds me of Bargnani. He has all of the tools to succeed, and yet can’t put it together for any significant stretch of time.
He is one of the few players who could have relative success is both the dunk and three point contests, and has the ability to stay in front of smaller guards, while also fighting against bigger bodies.
And then bad Ross shows up. He zones out for entire possession, loses his man while off ball, becomes gun shy from long range, stops attacking the basket, fails to get to the free throw line at almost all times, and even yawns while on the court.
It’s like someone is using him on NBA2K and just regularly leaves the room to get a drink/snack, causing the semi-auto function to kick in. The one where the player moves a few feet at a time to somewhat stick to a closer player on defense. Only to return, pick up the controller, and play beautiful basketball for a few minutes at a time.
It’s kind of an adventure, going into each game not knowing whether you are going to get good Ross or bad Ross. Whether it will be Terrence, Terry, or TJ making an appearance. I’ve made the decision to simply trust Masai Ujiri moving forward until I have reason to do otherwise, and that includes with the status of Ross.
And even when things look their bleakest for Ross, we can still try to find a positive.
I mean…at least he has a headband now. Long live Terrence/Terry/TJ??
