DeMar DeRozan or Klay Thompson - Who you got?

[ddaylewis]

I saw this posted on /r/NBA, and I was curious as to the forum's thoughts on the matter.

Edit: I realize this is a Raptors forum. I more so meant explain why you'd rather have DeMar or Klay.

[rocwell]

Our all-star DeMar. I still believe DeMar will develop that three-point shot.

[Mediumcore]

For Toronto, a team without an elite level scorer I say DeMar is a better option than Klay. For Golden State that has Curry, Klay is a better compliment.

[S.R.]

Ideally T-Ross becomes Klay Thompson.

[white men can't jump]

Ideally T-Ross becomes Klay Thompson.

Well he should at least be better defensively.

[S.R.]

Well he should at least be better defensively.

Which one? Thompson's a very good defender. GS uses him to guard three positions, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the league last year.

[white men can't jump]

Which one? Thompson's a very good defender. GS uses him to guard three positions, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the league last year.

Thompson's a very overrated defender. He's a plus defender, but he's not close to being a stopper. Ross has the potential to be a stopper.

Iguodala guards the best player on the other team. Curry is an atrocious defender. Klay defends 3 positions because they have to use him on the 2nd best perimeter player the other team has. But he's not that good a defender. He's not strong, and his quickness is not spectacular. He plays really smart and with a good motor, and that makes him solid. He gets way too much praise for his D though in my opinion. It doesn't help that he had a good showing in the playoffs on Chris Paul...but people seem to forget Paul was playing hurt and still played pretty well (in the next round, against Westbrook, Paul was destroying OKC, and no way Thompson is better at defending PGs than Westbrook).

[ddaylewis]

Which one? Thompson's a very good defender. GS uses him to guard three positions, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the league last year.

I'm a little confused about this myth of Klay's defense. He's good, but it's not like he's a shutdown guy or anything. The reason he's asked to move around and cover point guards is because Stephen Curry is too small to effectively guard anyone. I think Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala should get the bulk of the credit for Golden State's top-five defense last season.

[raptors999]

Thompson's a very overrated defender. He's a plus defender, but he's not close to being a stopper. Ross has the potential to be a stopper.

Iguodala guards the best player on the other team. Curry is an atrocious defender. Klay defends 3 positions because they have to use him on the 2nd best perimeter player the other team has. But he's not that good a defender. He's not strong, and his quickness is not spectacular. He plays really smart and with a good motor, and that makes him solid. He gets way too much praise for his D though in my opinion. It doesn't help that he had a good showing in the playoffs on Chris Paul...but people seem to forget Paul was playing hurt and still played pretty well (in the next round, against Westbrook, Paul was destroying OKC, and no way Thompson is better at defending PGs than Westbrook).

Like Ross but his steals rate is a little low. Good secondary defender but not a stopper. TRoss will make his money as a true 3PT Scoring SG that isn't terrible on defence.

[chico]

Which one? Thompson's a very good defender. GS uses him to guard three positions, and they were one of the top defensive teams in the league last year.

Maybe I haven't seen enough of him, because I've not been impressed with Thompson's defense. He should have much more energy than DD on D, as he doesn't have to do near as much on offense, but see little to choose from them on D. I think the only thing Klay has over DD is his 3 pt shooting, and DD has it over him in every other aspect of the game.

[white men can't jump]

I'm a little confused about this myth of Klay's defense. He's good, but it's not like he's a shutdown guy or anything. The reason he's asked to move around and cover point guards is because Stephen Curry is too small to effectively guard anyone. I think Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala should get the bulk of the credit for Golden State's top-five defense last season.

Even add Jermaine O'Neal (who played actually amazing D for them when he played) and Draymond Green, who also guards 3 positions almost every night. And in general, after Curry and Lee, most of their other players are sound defensively.

[white men can't jump]

Like Ross but his steals rate is a little low. Good secondary defender but not a stopper. TRoss will make his money as a true 3PT Scoring SG that isn't terrible on defence.

Man, we already saw Ross be a stopper in flashes last year. At a level I don't think Thompson is capable of.

Keep in mind Ross played the Iggy role...we often put him on the other team's best perimeter player. And that included using him over Lowry (a very good defensive PG) on many PGs when they needed to really slow someone down.

[DanH]

Klay is OK defensively - by no means a stopper.

That said, Ross is pretty bad still defensively - we'll see if he can make a big jump in the next year or so. He's got the tools.

[Puffer]

Man, we already saw Ross be a stopper in flashes last year. At a level I don't think Thompson is capable of.

I'd go along with this. Of course, I didn't watch every game Klay played last year, so maybe he had some flashes, but in this case, the devil I know is where I'm going. Almost everyone looks better on some other team. Gay, Turkeyglue, O'Neil, etc. etc. We KNOW DD gets better every year and no reason to think that it stops this year even. He could continue to improve for another 2-3 years, and by then, he's just a lot smarter than the young fella's.

[white men can't jump]

Klay is OK defensively - by no means a stopper.

That said, Ross is pretty bad still defensively - we'll see if he can make a big jump in the next year or so. He's got the tools.

Ross, as he has been in all ways since coming into the league, is inconsistent. On good nights he's by far our best on-the-ball perimeter defender, and looks like an elite defender in the making. Just need to get those good nights to be a regular thing....and improve his off-the-ball D (which I imagine will improve with time/experience).