Terence Davis could be the next NBA star nobody saw coming
Just one year after going undrafted in 2019, Toronto Raptors rookie Terence Davis is showing glimpses of NBA stardom.
While it might be a bit of a stretch to say Davis is going to be an NBA star, the 23-year-old has some of the key ingredients that go into becoming a star, according to NBA analyst Nate Duncan.
On Friday's Dunc'd on Basketball NBA podcast titled "The Next Stars Nobody Sees Coming", Duncan mentioned Davis as a possible candidate for NBA stardom.
"He's got a ton of athleticism, we saw it in person with some nasty dunks in the only game that Stephen Curry played in 2020 in Chase Center," Duncan said. "He's shot it well from 3, he's not supposed to be that good of a shooter, but maybe if he's improved, he's got the athleticism to play really good defense, and so maybe he could be something even beyond where Norm Powell ended up. You think of all these guys that have come through that Toronto has developed, so he's in the right place, his on/off numbers were awesome this year and, again I'm not predicting all-star level for him, but maybe it could happen."
A former high school football with Division I collegiate offers, Davis' athleticism shouldn't come as much of a surprise. It's allowed him to become an elite finisher this season. He's converted 66% of his buckets at the rim, the 11th most in the NBA for guards with at least 130 attempts, according to NBA Stats.
Behind the arc, Davis was an equally adept scorer this season, nailing 39.6% of his 3s, the fourth-best 3-point shooting percentage among qualified rookies, and almost 4% above league average.
Defensively, his defensive rating of 102.4 was the 16th best in the NBA, albeit in limited minutes.
Altogether, it allowed him to put together impressive on/off numbers, as Duncan referenced. The Raptors were +6.8 with Davis on the court, according to Cleaning The Glass, once again in a small sample size.
If Davis is going to take his game to the next level he's going to have to improve with the ball in his hands. Nearly 60% of his shots came without putting the ball on the ground this season, according to NBA Stats, as he was typically used as an off-ball threat.
With Fred VanVleet a pending free agent at season's end, it's possible Davis could see a major bump in his playing time next year and maybe take the next step into star status.
- Aaron Rose covers the Toronto Raptors and Canadian basketball for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter @aaronbenrose or on Facebook @AllRaptors.
