Who is the true GROAT – the Greatest Raptor of All Time? That title unofficially belongs to Kyle Lowry, the six-time NBA All-Star point guard who helped the Toronto Raptors win their first championship in 2019. But will Lowry make the Basketball Hall of Fame like Vince Carter, or Chris Bosh for that matter?
Probably. According to Basketball Reference, Lowry has an 85.7% chance of making it in as we go to press. But it takes more than HOF-worthiness to make our Top Five list of the Best Ever Raptors Players here at Bodog Sportsbook. Your cultural impact off the court matters, too.
So does your nationality. For the purposes of Canadian content, we’re including two notable Raptors from the Great White North in our picks. That means we have to bump DeMar DeRozan and Pascal Siakam from our Top Five, but that’s how important homegrown talent is to this particular franchise. Let’s see who made the list.
5. RJ Barrett
Even if RJ Barrett had been from Tunisia instead of Toronto, he would have made our Top Five eventually. That’s assuming he stays healthy and productive, which is always a concern in pro sports; Barrett has already suffered multiple injuries since joining the Raptors via trade in December 2023.
He’s also delivered on some of the potential that made him the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Originally considered a toxic contract that the New York Knicks unloaded on Toronto as part of the OG Anunoby trade, Barrett found his footing with the Raptors as their new starting wing, joining Scottie Barnes (another future Top Five GROAT candidate) and fellow ex-Knick Immanuel Quickley to form the “BBQ” core that just might bring the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy back to The Six.
4. Chris Boucher
Although he’s rarely cracked the starting line-up, Boucher has been one of Toronto’s best players in the post-pandemic era – and he’s the last Raptor standing from the 2018-19 World Champions. Born in Saint Lucia and raised in Montreal, Boucher was the NJCAA Player of the Year at Northwest College before joining the Oregon Ducks in 2015, where the 6-foot-9 centre made the Pac-12 Defensive Team despite his “Slimm Duck” frame.
Injuries caused Boucher to go undrafted in 2017, but the Golden State Warriors signed him to a two-way contract, allowing Boucher to officially become an NBA champion in 2018 despite playing just one minute for the parent club while spending most of his time in the G-League. Seizing the opportunity, the Raptors signed Boucher to a deal and assigned him to their new G-League affiliate, Raptors 905.
Boucher has been outperforming expectations ever since. He earned G-League MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honours in 2019 – and picked up another NBA championship after a brief appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals versus Milwaukee. Now he’s one of Toronto’s most important bench players, putting up 16 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes (albeit with many peaks and valleys) while playing lockdown defense.
3. Chris Bosh
At the time, it seemed like Toronto was cursed when they fell out of the Top Three at the 2003 NBA Draft lottery. They didn’t get LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony, but this turned out to be an amazingly deep draft class, and Bosh was an absolute godsend at No. 4. The former Texas Mr. Basketball became one of the greatest power forwards the NBA has ever seen.
If only Bosh had won those two NBA titles (2012, 2013) with the Raptors, and not with the Miami Heat alongside James and Dwyane Wade. Bosh was already Toronto’s all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks when he decided to leave town after seven outstanding, but ultimately frustrating seasons up North.
Unlike previous departures by Carter and Tracy McGrady, Toronto fans took Bosh’s exit with grace, venting their frustrations more at the Raptors front office than Bosh himself. Sadly, Bosh’s career was cut a bit short in 2017 because of blood clots; he continues to do valuable charity work for young people in Toronto and in his native Dallas through the Chris Bosh Foundation.
2. Kyle Lowry
Sometimes it’s the trades you don’t make that count the most. Masai Ujiri may be Toronto’s saviour as the architect of what would become the 2018-19 champions, but the team president and former GM was this close to shipping Kyle Lowry to New York in 2013. Rumour has it Ujiri was going to receive Tim Hardaway Jr., Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace and Iman Shumpert, but Knicks owner James Dolan squashed the deal, fearing that Ujiri was about to fleece his team yet again – remember that Andrea Bargnani trade?
Lowry responded by rattling off six straight All-Star campaigns, forming a powerful tandem with DeRozan that led Toronto to the top of the Eastern Conference. Alas, Ujiri had to send DeRozan packing to San Antonio in order to land Kawhi Leonard (a plausible Top Five GROAT) and win the championship, but Lowry knew the assignment, and he got the job done like a pro.
1. Vince Carter
There are basketball players, and there are gods. Vince Carter is the reason so many young Torontonians, including Barrett, got into the game. It’s just a shame that Carter’s most memorable moments were winning the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, and missing that desperation corner 3 against Philadelphia in Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern semifinals – not unlike the shot Leonard made in 2019.
Carter will also be remembered for the controversy. His demand to be traded, and the lackadaisical play following his demand, made Carter Public Enemy No. 1 after he was dealt to the New Jersey Nets in 2004. But Carter never let it sour him on Toronto as a city; by 2014, he was being cheered again, and by 2024, Carter was the centrepiece of the Raptors’ 30th anniversary celebrations.
It helped Carter’s HOF cause that he had a second, more mature act as a valuable sixth man for the Dallas Mavericks and others during the 2010s. But what do you think? Does Lowry deserve the GROAT nod ahead of Carter? Let us know, and keep checking in with Bodog Sportsbook for fresh Toronto Raptors odds and analysis.