DeMarre Carroll made the announcement on social media Wednesday that he is heading to Toronto to play for head coach Dwane Casey and the Raptors.
#WeThe North I will be playing for Toronto Raptors next year!!!! I'm Blessed for this Opportunity!… https://t.co/pBK6NvRVcE
— DeMarre Carroll (@DeMarreCarroll1) July 1, 2015
Carroll, Casey, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, and the rest of the entourage were all smiles as the two sides agreed upon a 4-year, $60 million deal, and they have every reason to be. While the Wednesday morning signing may have been overshadowed by bigger guns like Goran Dragic, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler, Danny Green, and others agreeing to deals of their own, when the smoke clears, bringing Carroll up north will prove to be one of the best signings of the 2015 offseason.
It’s an incredibly underrated get for the Raptors, who have been historically weak at the small forward position (held down last year by the ghost of Terrence Ross along with the ghost of Landry Fields’ ghost) in the #WeTheNorth era. Carroll, who gets a hefty payday, after playing on a two-year, $5 million deal previously, showed his worth as a two-way difference maker last season for the 60-win Hawks, with averages of 12.6 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.5 percent from deep. Often tasked with locking down the opposition’s top perimeter threat, Carroll kept the Hawks machine rolling on offense as well, proving himself as a lethal screener/cutter/spot-up shooter, which are indispensable skills for a wing player in today’s NBA. For a Raptors squad that was a bottom-eight team in defensive efficiency last year and often saw three or four guys stand around as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, or Lou Williams over-dribbled and jacked up a contested long two early in the shot clock, Carroll’s presence will be nothing short of game-changing.
A glimpse into Carroll’s advanced stats last year provide a further glance into the versatile impact the Missouri product will have on both ends for the Raptors. Carroll put up a 60.3 true shooting percentage, a 9.7 rebound percentage (he’s known as one of the league’s best offensive rebounders at the SF position), and a -4.3 net difference in field goal attempts defended. Meanwhile, the 2014-15 Raptors ranked 11th in 3-point percentage, 21st in rebounding differential, and 13th in opposing 3-point percentage allowed. Care to connect the dots?
This move is definitely a win-win for both sides. I’m especially looking forward to the hyena frontline of Lowry, Carroll, and James Johnson that Casey is sure to turn to on occasion to melt faces on the perimeter defensively. And at an average annual value of $15 million which is right in line with what solid second-tier small forwards like Khris Middleton are commanding, well, let’s just say there’s a reason why an Executive of the Year Award hangs in Ujiri’s office.
Photo via DeMarre Carroll on Instagram
*Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, and ESPN*
