Time to say goodbye to Davis
Innocent until proven guilty is vitally important, but optics count
It’s time for the Raptors to cut Terence Davis loose. Today. It’s entirely true that the charges laid against the 23year-old guard after a Tuesday night incident in Manhattan are just that, charges, and nothing has been proven in court.
It’s also entirely true that things are not always as they seem and that everyone deserves a vigorous defence and their day in court should they choose, but in this case enough is enough.
Sometimes it’s just best to cut your losses and move on.
Davis — facing multiple charges including assault, attempted assault and endangering the welfare of a child after an incident involving a woman who has been described as both his girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend in media reports — is, sad but truthful to say, hardly worth the effort for the club.
Yes, he is an intriguing young player who had a tremendous rookie season as an undrafted gem, but the fact is the Raptors found him and can likely find his replacement, if not now then in the not-too-distant future. While he had moments on the court, it’s unlikely he will be central to another championship run, and that’s a factor in whatever decision is made. Shake a tree hard enough and three Terence Davises fall out of it.
His production — averaging 7.5 points in about 17 minutes a game — is not irreplaceable, and if there’s a chance to tack that time on to the load carried by Matt Thomas or Norm Powell, it’s not like the Raptors will be worse off for it. Davis might some day become a key rotation player on a very good team, but so might someone else.
Another truth of the matter is that in some ways it would be hard for the Raptors not to let Davis go, given the times in which we live, the social responsibility the team accepts and the way it views itself.
Innocent until proven guilty — his lawyer denied the charges without further comment, with a court date set for Dec. 11 — is vitally important to society and cannot be diminished, but optics count. No one knows that more than a franchise that rode through Florida on buses emblazoned with “Black Lives Matter” when the NBA season restarted, and which has lived through the ongoing saga of Masai Ujiri vs. The Sheriff’s Deputy.
The Raptors could wait and let the legal process play itself out — and it’s kind of understandable and defensible if they do — but it would be far more effective in some circles if they decided: You know what, we’re going to be proactive here.
As wrong as it may seem, players are not valued equally within a team. Slack can be cut for one guy but not another, and there are myriad reasons why — logical in some respects and illogical in others. There is a lot of “What can you do for me?” in pro sports, and players who can do less do not get the benefit of the doubt the same way as players who are stars and major financial investments and key components.
Don’t for a second think that shouldn’t factor into any decision concerning Davis.
And this is not the first time the Raptors have had to deal with an “Oh, what did Terence do?” situation, although it is by far the most serious.
There was the “hole in the mask” incident in the Orlando bubble, when Davis openly flouted NBA protocols calling for proper masks to be worn at every possible moment to protect the health and safety of not only the individual but the entire league.
There was also the social media post suggesting that at least some of the pandemic is a conspiracy, something made up in the fanciful minds of deniers despite overwhelming scientific proof.
Neither of those on their own merited more than a stern talking to — “Hey, Terence, what the hell are you doing?” situations that come up often with all kinds of players over the course of a season — but a pattern is a pattern, and maybe gateway behaviour that should be recognized. When it’s time to cut bait, it’s time to cut bait. That time is now. The basketball issues are inconsequential. If the Raptors need to go into the free agency period with one more hole in the roster, there’s no reason to think they won’t ably fill it. They found Davis, they can find another Davis, and if they have to eat his $1.5-million (U.S.) salary that’s no big deal at all. It will not make a difference to how much the Raptors have to spend in free agency, and will not have an impact on their salary cap or luxury tax threshold next season.
It’s not like they should deal with him the way the Blue Jays did with Roberto Osuna — suspended under MLB’s domestic violence policy and traded months later to Houston — because there is not, nor will there ever be, a trade market for Davis at even a dime on the dollar. Forget that.
Davis was a good story. And maybe these charges are entirely without merit and as the process unwinds through the legal system he is eventually vindicated. That’d be great. It would allow him to get on with a still-young life and continue his career.
It just can’t happen in Toronto.