Patrick Patterson
Patterson was the quintessential glue guy – a smart, versatile player but he isnow on.
Similar to Williams, Patterson’s impact and importance transcended the box score. His stats won’t jump off the page, they never did, but he makes this list for his role in turning the organization’s fortunes and propping up some of the best teams in franchise history.
He came to Toronto as part of the seven-player deal that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento and was supposed to be the first step in tearing things down. Instead, it inadvertently sparked the Raptors renaissance. Of course, that doesn’t happen without Lowry and DeRozan blossoming into stars, a by-product of the trade, but the four players coming back – Patterson, Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes – were factors in their own right, and none more than Patterson
Patterson was the quintessential glue guy – a smart, versatile player who could do everything well on both ends of the floor and made his teammates better. He was a key member of some great second units, closed games with the starters and almost always elevated the lineups he played with.
Dwane Casey always believed he was better suited coming off the bench, although his sample size as a starter was very small, so he may have been underutilized and even a bit underappreciated in his role. He was a reluctant shooter at times and a nagging knee injury slowed him in his final year with Toronto. Still, his fingerprints are all over the Raptors turnaround.
Super stat: In Patterson’s four seasons with Toronto, the Raptors were plus-1,201 with him on the court and plus-44 with him off it.
