Fansided

Every NBA team’s worst iteration ever

By Rich Kraetsch

BOSTON - NOVEMBER 20: Guard Chris Herren and coach Rick Pitino's expressions on the bench reflected their loss against the 76ers. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - NOVEMBER 20: Guard Chris Herren and coach Rick Pitino's expressions on the bench reflected their loss against the 76ers. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK CITY – NOVEMBER 14: Damon Stoudamire #20 of the Toronto Raptors drives during a game played on November 14, 1996 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1996 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK CITY – NOVEMBER 14: Damon Stoudamire #20 of the Toronto Raptors drives during a game played on November 14, 1996 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1996 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Toronto Raptors (1997-98, 16-66, -8.33 SRS)

Expansion teams are always going to struggle (let us ignore the Las Vegas Golden Knights) but the Raptors, stocked with a giant purple dinosaur pouncing on the DinoMania of the 1990s, seemed to have a good head on their shoulders. Before the team even began operations they appointed Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas as their general manager.

Thomas got to work immediately and with the first choice in the 1995 expansion draft (along with the Vancouver Grizzlies), Toronto selected Chicago Bulls point guard and former Thomas foe B.J. Armstrong. There was only one problem: Armstrong didn’t want to play for Thomas or the new franchise. He refused to report for training camp.

Okay, maybe things weren’t off to a great start.

Toronto lost a lot of games over the next handful of seasons but things seemed to be getting on the right track. Damon Stoudamire, the first draft pick in franchise history, gave Toronto a solid base from which to work. Center Marcus Camby was selected with the second overall pick the following season giving Toronto a potent 1-2 punch going into the 1997 season. In the 1997 NBA Draft, Toronto went with unproven commodity, high schooler Tracy McGrady as their ninth overall pick. McGrady would slide into a team that was already gaining momentum having improved to 30 wins in only their second season.

Welp. Things didn’t go quite as planned.

Injuries became an issue early for Toronto and they suffered a debilitating 17-game win streak early in the season to bring their overall record to a disastrous 2-19 by early December. Sitting at 11-38 just after the All-Star break the Raptors fired head coach Darrell Walker but that would be the least of the personnel changes in Toronto.

In November, after a power play to try and gain power within the organization, Thomas resigned his General Managers position and left the team. Damon Stoudamire immediately sought a trade from the team. In February, “Mighty Mouse” was traded to Portland for a package of players highlighted by Kenny Anderson.

There was another problem. Like Armstrong before him, Anderson had no interest in playing for the young expansion team. Anderson refused to report to Toronto. Eventually, he was chipped off to Boston for a package of players including Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown and Roy Rogers.

When the dust finally settled, Toronto was the NBA’s youngest team with five rookies on the roster (McGrady, Billups, Chris Garner, Ed Stokes, John Thomas and Alvin Williams). Toronto finished 26th (out of 29) in DefRtg and 25th in offensive rating losing games by well over nine points per game.

After winning 30 games the year prior, Toronto fell to a still-franchise-worst 16-66 overall. Toronto won only one game from March 10 to the season’s final night on April 19. Twenty-one players on Toronto’s roster finished with a negative Box Plus-Minus on the season while the team carried a ghastly 50.8 effective field goal percentage, far and away worst in the league.

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