1997–98 Toronto Raptors season

1997–98 Toronto Raptors season
Raptors draft Tracy McGrady
Head coach	Darrell Walker and Butch Carter
Owner(s)	John Bitove, Allan Slaight, Isiah Thomas
Arena	SkyDome Maple Leaf Gardens
Results
Record	16–66 (.195)
Place	Division: 8th (Central) Conference: 15th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	TSN, The Score, CKVR
Radio	CFRB

The 1997–98 NBA season was Toronto's third season of the team's franchise. Toronto selected high school star Tracy McGrady with their ninth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft. Due to player injuries, the Raptors struggled losing seventeen consecutive games early in the season. Scoring leader Damon Stoudamire was later traded to the Portland Trail Blazers at midseason. Head coach Darrell Walker was fired and replaced with Butch Carter. The Raptors finished the season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference, 16–66.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	9	Tracy McGrady	SG/SF	United States	Mt. Zion Academy (Durham, NC)

Roster

Toronto Raptors roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 3 Billups, Chauncey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Colorado SG 7 Brown, Dee 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jacksonville PF 21 Camby, Marcus 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Massachusetts SG 13 Christie, Doug 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Pepperdine PG 00 Garner, Chris 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 156 lb (71 kg) Memphis SG 1 McGrady, Tracy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Mt. Zion Christian Academy (HS) C 2 Miller, Oliver 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Arkansas PF 9 Rogers, Roy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Alabama PF 35 Slater, Reggie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Wyoming PF 12 Thomas, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Minnesota PF 33 Trent, Gary 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Ohio SF 44 Wallace, John 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Syracuse SG 22 Williams, Alvin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Villanova C 4 Wright, Sharone 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Clemson	Head coach Butch Carter Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

In February 1998, Damon Stoudamire was traded by the Raptors along with Walt Williams and Carlos Rogers to the Portland Trail Blazers, for Kenny Anderson, Alvin Williams, Gary Trent, two first-round draft choices, a second-round draft choice and an amount of money. Anderson refused to report to the team, because he did not want to play in Canada. He was then sent along with Popeye Jones and Zan Tabak to the Boston Celtics for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, John Thomas and Roy Rogers.

Lows

A seventeen-game losing streak at the start of the season.

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Chicago Bulls	62	20	.756	–	37–4	25–16	21–7
x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	4	32–9	26–15	19–9
x-Charlotte Hornets	51	31	.622	11	32–9	19–22	16–12
x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	12	29–12	21–20	19–9
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	15	27–14	20–21	14–14
Detroit Pistons	37	45	.451	25	25–16	12–29	12–16
Milwaukee Bucks	36	46	.439	26	21–20	15–26	9–19
Toronto Raptors	16	66	.195	46	9–32	7–34	2–26

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chauncey Billups*	29	26	31.7	.349	.316	.919	2.7	3.3	1.03	.07	11.3
Dee Brown*	31	2	29.3	.446	.411	.907	2.9	3.3	1.23	.55	12.2
Marcus Camby	63	58	31.8	.412	.000	.611	7.4	1.8	1.08	3.65	12.1
Doug Christie	78	78	37.7	.428	.326	.829	5.2	3.6	2.44	.73	16.5
Chris Garner	38	0	7.7	.329	.286	.429	.6	1.2	.55	.11	1.4
Tim Kempton*	5	0	6.4	.286	.000	.000	1.0	.4	.20	.40	.8
Bob McCann	1	0	5.0	.000	.000	.000	1.0	.0	.00	.00	.0
Tracy McGrady	64	17	18.4	.450	.341	.712	4.2	1.5	.77	.95	7.0
Oliver Miller	64	53	25.4	.461	.000	.604	6.3	3.1	.91	1.13	6.3
Roy Rogers*	6	0	11.5	.353	.000	.250	2.0	.2	.17	.67	2.2
Reggie Slater	78	28	21.3	.460	.000	.630	3.9	.9	.58	.38	8.0
Ed Stokes	4	0	4.3	.333	.000	.500	1.0	.3	.25	.50	.8
John Thomas*	21	0	8.0	.424	.000	.714	1.7	.2	.14	.14	2.0
Gary Trent*	13	7	27.3	.438	.000	.633	8.0	1.1	.62	.62	12.2
John Wallace	82	36	28.8	.478	.500	.717	4.5	1.3	.76	1.23	14.0
Alvin Williams*	13	3	15.9	.364	.500	.636	1.6	1.5	.62	.08	3.2
Sharone Wright	7	0	6.3	.500	.000	.500	1.3	.6	.00	.00	2.3

* Statistics include only games with the Raptors

External links

• 1997-98 Toronto Raptors season at Basketball Reference
• 1997-98 Toronto Raptors season at Database Basketball