The star point got traded and the coach just quit. We have a spreadsheet going.
3. Chauncey Billups, 11.3pts, 2.7reb, 3.3ast
After Kenny Anderson tied himself to a chair in the Portland lockerroom and subsequently never reported to Toronto as part of the Damon trade, the Raptors lucked out…briefly. Boston traded Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers and John Thomas to the Raptors for Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones and Zan Tabak. Pound for pound the Raptors won that trade. Billups wasn’t the Billups we came to know but it was clear even then that the guy had talent and the only thing going against him was that he wasn’t seen as a traditional point guard and was instead a tweener. That tweener status was probably behind Grunwald flipping him for picks to Denver (garbage trade even at the time) and what a mistake it turned out to be.
2. John Wallace, 14pts, 4.5reb, absolutely zero defense
On October 10, 1997, as part of a three-team trade with the Knicks and Blazers, the Raptors acquired Syracuse forward John Wallace. A year back he had taken the Orangemen to the NCAA title game only to lose to Rick Pitino’s Kentucky squad which was stacked – Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson, Nazr Mohammed and Tony Delk. Wallace’s scoring prowess had carried Syracuse but he still fell to #18 in the draft on account of being undersized – they always said the power forward was the hardest transition to make. Wallace found his offensive touch on a terrible team where touches were abundant and defense optional. All you need to know about Wallace that season is this: his eight top-scoring games were 30, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25 and 25. All losses. In a 16-win season he made life livable.
1. Doug Christie, 16.5pts, 5.2reb, 3.6 ast, 2.4stl – 78 games started
This season was as bad as it got. Ever. This is one you think back to on any day in the 2000s or the 2010s and say to yourself, “at least it’s not 1998”. Through it all Doug was Doug – playing defense, driving hard and trying to lift his teammates showing them how a professional should act. With Damon scrambling, Darrell Walker quitting, this franchise needed a semblance of normality and Doug provided it. Dwane Casey may have purchased a literal rock, but Doug was a rock.
