The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at

Paramount Fine Foods Centre The Paramount Fine Foods Centre, formerly the Hershey Centre, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Its current name was adopted on July 1, 2018, following a new naming rights agreement with ...

, replacing the Centre's former basketball tenant, the

Mississauga Power The Mississauga Power were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Mississauga, Ontario, that competed in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Established in as the Oshawa Power, they played in the Central Division (NBL Cana ...

of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...

. The team regularly plays approximately 2-4 home games at the

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rapt ...

, the home of their parent club, the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors 905 is the eighth NBA G League team to be owned by an NBA team and the first NBA G League team to be located outside of the United States. The name "905" refers to the local area code of the suburban Greater Toronto Area, and is a common shorthand referring to the suburbs surrounding Toronto.

History

In 2008, Raptors president and general manager

Bryan Colangelo Bryan Paul Colangelo (born June 1, 1965) is an American basketball executive who was the former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also served as president ...

said that

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Ltd. (MLSE) was considering launching an NBA Development League franchise in the Toronto area within a couple of years to serve as a developmental team for the Raptors.

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Copps Coliseum FirstOntario Centre (originally Copps Coliseum) is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. History Hamilton was lef ...

and

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

were reportedly under consideration to host the franchise. However, a Canadian-based franchise posed difficulties due to tax and visa issues, and

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, which is just across the United States border, was considered as an alternative. Raptors 905 Inaugural Home Opener Hershey Centre

In April 2015, Colangelo's replacement

Masai Ujiri Masai Ujiri (born 7 July 1970) is a British-born, Nigerian-Canadian professional basketball executive and former player and is the president of basketball operations of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a m ...

announced that MLSE's board had approved purchasing a franchise, and that they were in negotiations with the NBA over where the team would play and whether it could be launched in time for the 2015-16 season. In June 2015 it was announced that MLSE had purchased a D-League franchise, which would be named the Raptors 905 and would begin play that fall at the Hershey Centre in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. The team is named after the

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

used by much of suburban Greater Toronto Area. The franchise reportedly cost $6 million. An agreement was negotiated with the

of the

, which held the basketball lease at the Hershey Centre, with the Power folding. The team planned to play some games at Toronto's

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena ( French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rap ...

, home of their NBA affiliate the Toronto Raptors. On July 7, 2015,

Jesse Mermuys Jesse Mermuys (born ) is an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic. He was a former assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors. Coaching career Denver Nuggets Mermuys spent four seasons with the Nuggets as ...

was hired as head coach and Dan Tolzman as general manager. Mermuys left his position as an assistant coach under Toronto Raptors head coach,

Dwane Casey Dwane Lyndon Casey (born April 17, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there ...

. On July 28, 2015, veteran coach Tim Lewis was named lead assistant coach. On November 4, 2015, Raptors 905 unveiled their new uniforms and an alternate logo. On June 13, 2016, it was reported that Mermuys would leave the 905 for the

LA Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, joining them as an assistant coach. In September, the Raptors announced that

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

would be the head coach of the Raptors 905 team. In 2016–17, the 905 finished with a 39–11 record (the second best record in G-League history) clinching their first division title and with a record of 21–4 on the road (a D-League record). Stackhouse was awarded the Coach of the Year, while Center

Edy Tavares Walter Samuel "Edy" Tavares da Veiga (born 22 March 1992) is a Cape Verdean professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was selected with the 43rd overall pick in 2014 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks and ...

was awarded Defensive Player of the Year. Making their way to the playoffs as the top seed, they swept the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

in the first round and then swept the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

in the second, clinching their first conference title. In the finals, they met the Western Conference champion

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won fo ...

whom they beat in three games and claimed their first title in franchise history.

Pascal Siakam Pascal Siakam (born 2 April 1994) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Siakam played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies and was named the Western At ...

was named the Finals MVP after recording 32 and 17 points in Games 2 and 3 respectively.

Season-by-season

Current roster

Alumni

The following players have appeared in the NBA:

Head coaches

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Lorenzo Brown Lorenzo Dontez Brown (born August 26, 1990) is an American-born naturalized Spanish professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. High school career Brown initially attended Ce ...

(2018) * Chris Boucher (2019)

Finals MVP

(2017)

Defensive Player of the Year

(2017) * Chris Boucher (2019) * Gary Payton II (2021)

Coach of the Year

(2017)

All Stars

* Ronald Roberts (2016) *

Scott Suggs Scott Suggs (born November 10, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Iraklis of the Greek Basket League. He played college basketball for the University of Washington before playing professionally in the NBA G Le ...

(2016) * Axel Toupane (2016, 2017) *

(2017)

All League teams

(2017 First team) * Axel Toupane (2017 Third team) *

(2018 First team) * Chris Boucher (2019 First Team) * Jordan Loyd (2019 First team) *

Henry Ellenson Henry John Ellenson (born January 13, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Club Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played one season of college basketball for Marquette, before being drafted 18th overall by the Pistons i ...

(2021 Second Team) *

Malachi Flynn Malachi Flynn (born May 9, 1998) () is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington State Cougars and the San Diego State Aztecs. ...

(2021 Second team) *

Alize Johnson Alize DeShawn Johnson (born April 22, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Missouri State Bears of the Missouri Valley Conference. Johnson was sele ...

(2021 Second team)

All Defensive League teams

(2017) * Chris Boucher (2019) * Gary Payton II (2021)

All Rookie teams

(2021)

Slam Dunk Champion

* John Jordan (2016)

Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award

(2016)

Most Improved Player

* Axel Toupane (2016)

Executive of the Year

Chad Sanders Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad– ...

(2021)

Franchise of the Year

* (2019-20)

NBA affiliates

(2015–present)

References

External links

* {{Toronto Sports 2015 establishments in Ontario Sport in Mississauga Toronto Raptors Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Basketball teams established in 2015