21-year old power forward Ed Davis got off to a late start this year but he is trying to make up for lost time. Davis has played in 11 games (2 starts) for the Raptors so far this year and he is averaging 18.8 minutes, 4.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Davis is only shooting 40% from the floor so far this year but I look for that to come up because most of his shots are going to come from in close. 22-year old center Solomon Alabi has only played in 2 games (0 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 3.0 minutes per game. He has yet to score and he has 1 rebound so far. Look for the Raptors to take it slow with Alabi.

The Raptors might have benched 20-year old shooting guard DeMar DeRozan late in the year but they still really like his upside. DeRozan played in 77 games (65 starts) for the Raptors this season and he averaged 21.6 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. If Chris Bosh leaves the Raptors over the summer look for DeRozan to be a bigger part of the offense next season.

So much for bringing along rookie shooting guard DeMar DeRozan slowly as he has been in the Raptors’ starting lineup since day #1. DeRozan has played in 50 games (all starts) for the Raptors this season and he is averaging 21.2 minutes, 8.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He is also shooting 47.7% from the floor this season as he does not seem intimidated by his surroundings. Look for the Raptors to take the training wheels off of DeRozan next year.

The Raptors are taking it slow with shooting guard DeMar DeRozan as they are watching his minutes despite starting him. DeRozan has played in 36 games (all starts) for the Raptors this season and he is averaging 20.0 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. DeRozan will likely be a player the Raptors build around in the future but they don’t want to overwhelm him as a rookie while giving him enough experience to learn on the job.

The high flying rookie DeMar DeRozan has been using his athleticism to make some plays for the Toronto Raptors this year.  DeRozan gets limited minutes, but he sure does make the most of them.  He has the ability to make an impact as soon as he steps on the floor and there aren’t too many players (if any) that can match his athleticism.  DeRozan is my favorite to win the NBA Dunk Contest at All-Star weekend, but see where he ranks amongst the other top rookies in my list of the Top Rookies in the NBA so far.