We are near the half-way point between the start of the season and the all-star break. To quickly recap: The Raptors lie 2nd in a bizarrely good Eastern Conference, #NBAVoting has begun, and everybody is talking about Kyle Lowry.
Kyle Lowry is amazing in every way conceivable. He’s the closest thing to an MVP-caliber player the Raptors have had since Chris Bosh, and he’s putting up numbers you’d expect to see from the NBA’s elite players. At this point, he should be a lock to start for the East in the all-star game.
But the purpose of this article is not to regurgitate the Kyle Lowry love-fest (which will ultimately be done in a separate article), but rather to talk about Lowry’s back-court ally, DeMar DeRozan, who has quietly put together some of the most impressive numbers of his career.
‘Quietly’ is relative. Sure, he gets noticed, and there are on-going wranglings about him – but compared to the Lowry hype-train, DeRozan’s solid play has been somewhat masked. During this successful 4-game stint where the Raptors went 4-0, DeRozan was a huge part of the offense, and in a good way. He shot 51.7% from the field, got to the line almost 9 times per game, and averaged 24 points. Also of note, he attempted just three shots from behind the arc.
He’s been impressive. Undoubtedly, there are concerns with DeMar’s inability to stretch the floor. There’s a reason why he only shoots less than two three’s per game. On the season, he’s just a 20% 3-point threat. But what DeMar lacks in being a three-point weapon, he’s making up for in other facets of the game. He is taking better shots overall (Zarar and I disagree about this in this week’s podcast), getting to the rim, and involving team-mates.
He might not shoot the three well even at an average rate, but he does still command to be guarded on the perimeter, which enables him to blow by his opponents with his quickness and either: A) get the rim / line, B) kick it out for an open look, or C) pull-up for a good mid-range jumper.
The first play in the graphic below from the 76ers game last night is a great example of one of these kick-out assists. DeRozan catches the ball at the top of arc, Biyombo sets a screen enabling DeMar to get to the rim, the defense collapses in order to stop an easy two by DeMar who finds an open Luis Scola from three (side note: these embeddable movement graphics from NBA.com are fantastic):
On the season, DeRozan is shooting 43.6%. That number is not a career-high, but it does hover around his career-average of 44.4%. He’s hitting career-highs in free-throw attempts and FT%, which is indicative of Dwane Casey’s emphasis on getting DeMar to utilize his strengths – and that is to slash his way to the rim. Last season, DeRozan was among the top five players in the league in regards to free throw attempts. This season, he’s on course to be even better and has been to the line 211 times already – second only to James Harden. He’s even ahead of DeAndre Jordan who – excruciatingly – gets hacked intentionally, killing NBA ratings.
It’s hard to scrutinize any of DeRozan’s drives to the basket, because the likelihood of it resulting in either two points or a trip to the foul line is high, and he doesn’t even need to get to the basket to draw a foul – this has become an underrated aspect to his game.
The only player in the entire association who has had more drives to the basket this season has been Reggie Jackson. Among all players who have driven to the basket 200 times or more (a list which includes Lowry, Rondo, LeBron, Westbrook, Harden, and Lillard), DeRozan ranks 2nd behind Rondo in drive FG%, and third in drive turnover percentage behind Damian Lillard and Ish Smith.
It’s interesting, concurrently with his drives, DeRozan is still actually taking bad shots (the contested long two), but he’s had more confidence in making those bad shots.
Against the Spurs – in the most complete game the Raptors have played all season – DeRozan scored 28 points and hit some tough shots over Ginobili and Aldridge. Shots you normally wouldn’t want any player to take.
Here’s the encouraging part. While DeRozan’s been hitting some shots with a high degree of difficulty, he hasn’t relied on them, and has been mixing his offensive game up with drives to keep the defense guessing. Against the Spurs, his shot chart was eye candy.
The above chart accounts for 20 of his points (66.7% from the field). The remaining eight points came from the free-throw line, which, again, stems from his will to get to the rim.
Despite all this, by no means is DeRozan a superstar or a player who can lead the team to a ‘ship. His true shooting percentage is .539, which ranks 26th among shooting guards. Within this category (keep in mind, we’re not even factoring in the rest of the league here, where he would go unranked in the top 40), he’s 32nd in assists despite being 3rd in usage rate. But DeRozan’s dynamics have changed in a good way this season, and the important thing is that he’s improved and recognized what he’s good at and polished that aspect of his game. He is now an elite player when it comes to driving to the basket in a conducive way to put points on the board.
It’s not crazy to imagine DeRozan will be in the all-star squad come February if he keeps playing the way he is. If the Raptors (and DeMar) can accept he’s not a superstar but a very integral piece to a franchise with upside, they will be content with him. DeRozan is a diligent gym rat who’s improved year-by-year and has shown an exemplary and humble attitude. He deserves some love.
