The 1995–96 NBA season was the Toronto Raptors' first season in the National Basketball Association. The Raptors, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, played their first games in 1995, and were the first NBA teams to play in Canada since the 1946–47 Toronto Huskies. Retired All-Star point guard, and former Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas became the team's General Manager. The Raptors revealed a new primary logo of a dinosaur playing basketball, and got new pinstripe uniforms with the logo on the front of their jerseys, adding purple and red to their color scheme. In the 1995 NBA expansion draft, the Raptors selected veteran players like B.J. Armstrong, Oliver Miller, Willie Anderson, Tony Massenburg, Ed Pinckney, Žan Tabak, Acie Earl and John Salley. However, Armstrong refused to play for the Raptors, and was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for second-year forward Carlos Rogers and Victor Alexander. The team also signed free agents, former All-Star guard Alvin Robertson, and three-point specialist Tracy Murray. The Raptors received the seventh overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft, and selected point guard Damon Stoudamire from the University of Arizona. The team also hired Brendan Malone as their first ever head coach. In their NBA regular season debut on November 3, 1995, the Raptors defeated the New Jersey Nets at the SkyDome, 94–79, but went on a 7-game losing streak afterwards, and held a 13–34 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Anderson and Alexander to the New York Knicks in exchange for Doug Christie, and then traded Massenburg and Pinckney to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for second-year forward Sharone Wright, while Salley was released to free agency and signed with the Chicago Bulls. The Raptors finished their inaugural season last place in the Central Division with a 21–61 record. Stoudamire averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and was named Rookie of the Year, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He also won the MVP award in the Rookie Game during the All-Star Weekend in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Murray finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game, led them with 151 three-point field goals, and finished tied in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Miller provided the team with 12.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, and Robertson contributed 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Off the bench, Tabak provided with 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while Rogers also contributed 7.7 points per game, and Earl contributed 7.5 points per game. Following the season, Malone was fired as head coach after just one season with the Raptors, while Murray signed as a free agent with the Washington Bullets, Miller signed with the Dallas Mavericks, and Robertson retired after ten seasons in the NBA. The Raptors' new logo would remain in use until 2008, where they changed the background of the logo from purple to red, while the original logo with the dinosaur lasted until 2015. The new pinstripe uniforms lasted until 1999.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The team's roster was then filled as a result of an expansion draft in 1995. Following a coin flip, Toronto was given first choice and selected Chicago Bulls point guard and three-point specialist B. J. Armstrong. Armstrong refused to report for training, and Thomas promptly traded him to the Golden State Warriors for power forwards Carlos Rogers and Victor Alexander. Thomas then selected a wide range of players in the expansion draft.

NBA draft

Subsequent to the expansion draft, Toronto was given the seventh pick, after the Vancouver Grizzlies, in the 1995 NBA draft. They selected Damon Stoudamire, a point guard out of University of Arizona, around whom Thomas chose to base the franchise. The selection of Stoudamire was met with boos from fans at the 1995 NBA draft at SkyDome in Toronto, many of whom wanted Ed O'Bannon of UCLA, an NCAA Final Four MVP.

Roster

Roster notes

The first game

The Raptors’ first ever regular season game was played on November 3, 1995, against the New Jersey Nets at the SkyDome in front of 33,306 fans. Alvin Robertson scored the first points in Raptors history, as he hit a three pointer to give Toronto an early 3–0 lead. The Raptors were led by Robertson, who scored a team high 30 points, as well as Damon Stoudamire, who had a double double in his first career game, scoring 10 points and adding 10 assists, as the Raptors defeated the Nets 94–79.

Regular season

The team played its first season in the Central Division, and before the inaugural season began, sales of Raptors merchandise ranked seventh in the league, marking a successful return of basketball to Canada. As GM, Isiah Thomas quickly staffed the management positions with his own personnel, naming long-time Detroit Pistons assistant Brendan Malone as the Raptors' head coach. The Raptors concluded their inaugural season with a 21–61 win–loss record, although they were one of the nine teams to defeat the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls, who set an NBA best 72–10 win–loss regular season record. With averages of 19.0 points and 9.3 assists per game, Stoudamire also won the 1995–96 Rookie of the Year Award.

Highs

Stoudamire's breakout year

Stoudamire had a noteworthy rookie season with the Toronto Raptors averaging 9.3 assists and 19 points. He earned the nickname "Mighty Mouse" due to the fact he stands only 5'10" (1.77 m), and that he had a Mighty Mouse tattoo on his right arm going into his rookie season. Damon currently holds the record of having the third-highest assist average ever by a rookie, and rookie record setter for 3-pointers with 133, breaking the 3-point record previously held by Dennis Scott. Stoudamire was ranked second in scoring among all rookies in his rookie season, and led all rookies in minutes played and assists. He received the Shick Rookie of the Month Award twice and unanimously made the Shick All Rookie First Team. That same year Stoudamire was also awarded the Rookie of the Year Award for the 1995–1996 season, receiving 76 of the 113 possible votes and the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Rookie Game. Stoudamire holds the record for being the second-lowest draft pick (seventh overall) to ever win the Rookie of the Year Award, the lowest being Mark Jackson (eighteenth overall). Damon is also known as the shortest player at 5'10" to ever win this award. He did not play the last 10 games of his rookie season due to an injury, Tendinitis in his left knee. The Raptors went 2–8 without him and finished 21–61 in his and the Raptors' rookie season.

Lows

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season

† Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Raptors only.

Franchise firsts

Point: Alvin Robertson

Award winners

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Player Transactions Citation: