Toronto Raptors Call Up Ed Davis: What It Means for the Squad

We all knew it was going to happen sometime in December, but it happened earlier than expected. The Toronto Raptors called up their first round draft pick on Monday, and the 6'10", 225 lb power forward will begin to practice with the team on Tuesday.

Davis is expected to be dressed to play against the Washington Wizards. He was cleared last week by team doctors after tearing a minuscus (the cartilage between the knee bones) eariler in the summer just weeks after being drafted.

Stats in D-League

Ed Davis only played two games for the Raptors' D-League affiliate team, the Erie Bayhawks, but put up spectacular defensive numbers in those twi games. He only played about 18 minutes per game, but with the Toronto Raptors, expect him to half-and-half with current starting forward Amir Johnson, who is taking place of the injured Reggie Evans. Here are his stats:

PPG: 10.0

RPG: 5.0

BPG: 3.0

MPG: 17.5

Now, D-League stats are nothing to be so speculative about since the competitive level is not as much as it would be in the actual NBA, so we could either see an decrease or an increase in his stats depending on how well he plays in the NBA.

Davis' speciality is shot blocking, and the numbers have shown in college and in the D-league. He averaged 2.8 BPG for the North Carolina Tar Heels in College and 3.0 BPG for the Erie Bayhawks in the D-league.

Entering the draft, he was compared to a healthy Greg Oden, who can absolutely demolish the opposing team when it comes to defense. Although a healthy Greg Oden is better defensively then Ed Davis, Davis has a little bit more in him when it comes to offense in the post.

Since Andrea Bargnani does not really enjoy playing down in the post, expect Davis to play that role. Also, with a great passer in Jose Calderon (who has not averaged less than 5 APG in the last six seasons), Ed Davis might be able to complete those pick and role plays and get the passes needed to score the basket. Though Davis is not very good at shooting the ball, he is going to be a presence in the post felt by many teams.

When Reggie Evans comes back, the Raptors will have three power forwards on their roster, which means one of them is going to have to back up Andrea Bargnani since David Anderson (Bargnani's former reserve) was shipped with Jarret Jack to the New Orleans Hornets recently.

Raptors head coach Jay Triano will probably experiment by putting either Davis or Johnson in the five position, but that is yet to be heard of. For now, Ed Davis will play backup power forward and will hopefully bring the rebounding and defensive presence Toronto lost when Chris Bosh left the team, and now that Evans is injured.