The NBA is finally realizing something that fans of the Toronto Raptors have known for a while. Masai Ujiri is a basketball wizard. The president of the Raptors has made a habit of fleecing the executives of rival teams and turning undrafted or unrecognized players into key rotation players if not burgeoning superstars (see Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet). Thus, it comes at no small surprise that Ujiri has uncovered a diamond in Terence Davis II.
During the Summer League of 2019 Davis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Nuggets. The first game of the Summer League proved fruitful for Davis as he dropped 22 points against the Orlando Magic. This offensive outburst was followed by the Raptors offering Davis a two-year contract, which he quickly accepted. Terence Davis would go on to average 18 PPG and show the Raptors that their investment was well spent.
Bet on Yourself
Although Davis had achieved his dream of playing for an NBA team, the journey had not been without its challenges. During his high-school career, Davis was a dual-sport prodigy, as he had excelled in both basketball and football. However, Davis would soon have to choose which sport he treasured, and that turned out to be basketball. It was with this choice that Davis would go on to play for the Ole Miss Rebels.
Davis’ first year at Ole Miss was lacklustre as the young shooting guard would average only 6.6 MPG. However, the next three seasons were quite different as Davis would go on to average 12.5 PPG at 24.3 MPG. After the 2018-19 season concluded Davis had a chance to enter the draft and live his dream. However, during draft night Davis never heard his name called, and his consolation prize was offers of numerous ‘two-way player’ contracts. Instead of accepting any of these contracts Davis would go on to ‘bet on himself’ (sound familiar?) and prove himself in the Summer League. Davis had seen VanVleet’s gamble pay off and believed that trusting in one’s own ability would lead to great things.
Since his signing by the Raptors, Terence Davis has become a stable member of the bench unit and has become a fan favourite. Throughout the 2019-20 season, Davis is only averaging 6.9 PPG on 46.5% shooting but is knocking down threes at 39.3%. Davis has consistently shown flashes of great scoring ability as he has scored in double digits 10 times this season. The most recent flash of brilliance was New Year’s Eve, where Davis put up 19 over the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers. Shout out to Kevin Love showing how badly he wants to be traded.
Terence Davis: Invigorating the Team
Like the rest of the Raptors bench, Davis brings with him an energy and pride that spreads to his teammates. This shot of youthful vigour creates an energy that is unrivalled among NBA teams. Davis tirelessly performs each game by diving for loose balls and imposing his will on defenders. If Davis continues to make leaps and bounds throughout his NBA career it is not hard to imagine him as an eventual starter for a future Toronto Raptors team, and (bear with me now) an eventual All-Star.
However, there is one last thing to discuss, a nickname for our young fan favourite. Now during the Season Preview episode of the South of the 6ix Podcast, Jason Leung (of the That’s a Rap Podcast) offered the nickname of ‘TD Bank’ for Davis. Now I’m not saying that it’s a bad nickname but I’m sure that the imaginative Raptors Nation can come up with something great. If you’ve got an idea, be sure to post it in the comments.
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