Dinos & Digits: Step up for the Trade Deadline Special

Welcome back to Dinos & Digits, a column where we dive into the box scores and find five interesting or strange Raptors statistics and put them on front street for discussion.

We like to explore a mix of both individual player and team statistics, ranging from raw box score numbers to some interesting and funky advanced metrics. The goal is to present the numbers without too much opinion attached, leaving those debates for the comment section.

OK, let's get down to it. Here are this week's interesting digits:

Terrence Ross leaves the Raptors ranked third in franchise history in three-pointers made with 598.

That trails only Kyle Lowry (820 and counting) and Morris Peterson (801), and is more than Andrea Bargnani (579) and Vince Carter (554).

He’s also fourth in Raptors history in turnover percentage at 8.1%, trailing only Matt Bonner (6.7%), Jamario Moon (7.9%), and Donyell Marshall (7.9%) for the lowest among qualified players (enough games/minutes) that have donned the Raptors’ colours.

Serge Ibaka has averaged 2.4 blocks per game over his eight-year career, with a block percentage of 6.3%.

Marcus Camby (3.7 in 1997-98) and Keon Clark (2.4 in 2000-01) are the only Raptors in team history to average 2.4 blocks per contest over a single season, something that Ibaka has done five times. Marcus Camby’s 7.9% block percentage from that same season is the only time that a Raptor has topped Ibaka’s 6.3% career mark in any year.

Ibaka’s block numbers are admittedly down this season (1.6 per game, 4.3% block percentage), but he still has a shot at being the best shot blocker in team history if he sticks around and rounds back into form (he’s still in his prime at 27 years of age).

Serge Ibaka has a career player efficiency rating (PER) of 17.5.

The only power forwards in franchise history to have an average PER of 17.5 or higher during their Raptors tenure were Chris Bosh (21.3 over 509 games), Donyell Marshall (19.8 over 131 games), and Keon Clark (17.5 over 127 games).

P.J. Tucker, who was drafted by Toronto with the 35th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, played 83 minutes with the Raptors in 2006-07 over 17 games, scoring 30 points, grabbing 23 rebounds, dishing out three assists, and swiping two steals.

His per-36 averages for that short rookie season were 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.9 steals, and he shot 50.0% from the field (11-for-22) and 57.1% from the free throw line.

He was waived by Toronto before the end of his rookie year, went on to play five seasons overseas in pro leagues in Israel, Ukraine, Greece, Italy, and Germany, then came back to play the last five seasons as a member of the Phoenix Suns.

Over 377 games as a member of the Suns, Tucker averaged 8.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers in 29.0 minutes per contest, while shooting 43.3% from the field, 34.7% from deep, and 75.7% from the line.

Jared Sullinger played 118 minutes over 11 games for the Raptors this season, amassing 37 points, 27 rebounds, three assists, four steals, and one block.

He and P.J. Tucker have had fairly comparable Raptor careers.

Over those 11 games, Sullinger averaged 11.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks per 36 minutes, while shooting 31.3% from the field, 16.7% from deep, and 50.0% from the charity stripe (for a disgusting 35.9% true shooting percentage).

Sully, we hardly knew ye.

All stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com, NBA.com/stats, and statmuse.com.