Almost solely based off his majestic individual run to the Eastern Conference Finals, DeMarre Carroll deserves every cent of the four-year, $60 million contract that the Toronto Raptors offered him the second free agency’s light turned green.
A grimy swingman who elevated his game to new heights last season by shooting nearly 40.0 percent from behind the three-point line and posting a true shooting percentage above 60.0 (15th highest among all who played at least 1,000 minutes), Carroll’s offensive improvement nearly eclipsed his longstanding defensive prowess—the characteristic Toronto covets the most.
He helped boost the Atlanta Hawks to their gaudy top-seed status and proved more integral than most thought he ever could be in the postseason, when Atlanta’s ball-hopping attack evaporated whenever Carroll hit the bench.