Is Demar Derozan the real future of this franchise?

[Nilanka]

Just to put this in perspective, Kobe Bryant has never in his career shot better than 46.9% from the field or 37.5% from 3. Now Kobe also brought a nice assist game but his scoring number in his 4th season were not that much better than DD's are this year.

Kobe has always been a tenacious defender though. That's the kicker.

[Shrub]

Just to put this in perspective, Kobe Bryant has never in his career shot better than 46.9% from the field or 37.5% from 3. Now Kobe also brought a nice assist game but his scoring number in his 4th season were not that much better than DD's are this year.

Saying things like this just removes all credibility from your argument man.
We are not comparing DeRozan to Bryant.
There is no way that even remotely makes sense.

[BobLoblaw]

Almost as impressive as Arron Afflalo's last 6 games: 25.2pt, 4.3rb, 4.3 ast, 52.2% FG, 56.8% 3pt.
We should try to pair DeMar DeRozan with Arron Afflalo, then we'll have two franchise players.

[mcHAPPY]

Tbh DeMar's defense has been solid this year:

- The Raptors are +8.3 per 48 in pts/100 possessions with him on the floor
- He's giving up a PER of 13.5 to opposing SGs and 12.2 to opposing SFs

His dRTG (105) is also the best it's ever been (although thus far this is the best defensive team DD has played on). Ditto for WS/48.

Stats don't always back up the eye test. This is one case. Defense is also rebounding, I would add.

His DefRtg might be best of his career, I still wouldn't call it good.

Definite improvements though - but he didn't start on a high note to begin with.

[Masai Ujiri]

Stats don't always back up the eye test. This is one case. Defense is also rebounding, I would add.

His DefRtg might be best of his career, I still wouldn't call it good.

Definite improvements though - but he didn't start on a high note to begin with.

By the eye test his defense is solid as well so the stats do back up the eye test in this case.

DD's rebounds being down is a product of having 4 guys who rebound at an excellent rate for their positions playing with him. Even Amir's rebounds/36 are down significantly this year, did he get worse defensively?

DD's dRTG is a little worse than Lowry's and Amir's, so I guess they aren't good defenders either?

[planetmars]

Almost as impressive as Arron Afflalo's last 6 games: 25.2pt, 4.3rb, 4.3 ast, 52.2% FG, 56.8% 3pt.
We should try to pair DeMar DeRozan with Arron Afflalo, then we'll have two franchise players.

Denver's involvement in the Howard trade isn't really discussed much because MU was the GM.. but that didn't really workout that well form them. They gave up a 2014 pick and Afflalo for a rental (Iggy). I guess it goes to show you what a pseudo-contender will give up for an established vet. Wonder if we could get a similar haul for Gay?

[mcHAPPY]

By the eye test his defense is solid as well so the stats do back up the eye test in this case.

In your opinion; in your eyes.

Who is the number one wing option he guards on opposing teams? My eyes see Ross, Fields, or Gay on him.

Who does he visibly shut down? I've not come away from any game thinking DD owned that guy on D.

What defensive glass is he owning? League SG average per 48 is 4.6; DD is 3.9.

[mcHAPPY]

Denver's involvement in the Howard trade isn't really discussed much because MU was the GM.. but that didn't really workout that well form them. They gave up a 2014 pick and Afflalo for a rental (Iggy). I guess it goes to show you what a pseudo-contender will give up for an established vet. Wonder if we could get a similar haul for Gay?

What would have happened if Karl and Ujiri stayed?

Maybe nothing but I wouldn't blame Iggy for leaving either.

[JimiCliff]

Tbh DeMar's defense has been solid this year:

- The Raptors are +8.3 per 48 in pts/100 possessions with him on the floor
- He's giving up a PER of 13.5 to opposing SGs and 12.2 to opposing SFs

His dRTG (105) is also the best it's ever been (although thus far this is the best defensive team DD has played on). Ditto for WS/48.

Where'd you see this? 82games says +1.8 points/48 with him on the floor...

http://www.82games.com/1314/13TOR6.HTM

[hateslosing]

Saying things like this just removes all credibility from your argument man.
We are not comparing DeRozan to Bryant.
There is no way that even remotely makes sense.

The original poster said that he had to have 50% from the field and 35% from three to be an elite offensive player. Kobe is widely considered to be one of the best offensive players of all time and he never had those stats.

I've always liked the comparison between the two of them. If you watched the Lakers before they started winning titles, there are a lot of similarities between young Kobe and Demar. Kobe is of course the better ball handler and finisher, but other than that they had fairly similar games. One thing people forget is that early in his career a lot of people questionned Kobe's potential and thought he'd never be an elite player.

Kobe and Demar have similar games offensively, it's just that Kobe is better in every way as a player. Before you throw the argument out, go watch Kobe in 1998 or during the first championship and tell me his offenisve game is so elite it's rediculous to even compare him to Demar. In the Shaq days, Kobe was good but he often recieved that same chucker and volume shooter label that we see some assign to Dmar today.

[Joey]

In your opinion; in your eyes.

Who is the number one wing option he guards on opposing teams? My eyes see Ross, Fields, or Gay on him.

Who does he visibly shut down? I've not come away from any game thinking DD owned that guy on D.

What defensive glass is he owning? League SG average per 48 is 4.6; DD is 3.9.

He doesn't need to be Tony Allen to be considered a capable defensive player though.
Perhaps you're looking for more than 'capable' though, which is also fair.

I would say that just watching him this year he's more active on Defense and generally more engaged on Defense than I've seen him in the past. Not saying he's lock-down-defender type or anything, but I'm not sure that's required for him to be considered an above average contributor. While it would be nice, and not out of the question that he won't add it to his game, I think he's turned himself into a capable defender for his position.

I would also contend, that while still lacking, his court vision has improved as well. I've seen some pretty nifty passes from Demar this year.

EDIT: Oh.. the question was "Is Demar our Franchise guy of the future", as in, if the Raptors ever contend for a championship, will he be the guy leading us... probably not. Would be nice though wouldn't it?

[Shrub]

Kobe and Demar have similar games offensively, it's just that Kobe is better in every way as a player. Before you throw the argument out, go watch Kobe in 1998 or during the first championship and tell me his offenisve game is so elite it's rediculous to even compare him to Demar. In the Shaq days, Kobe was good but he often recieved that same chucker and volume shooter label that we see some assign to Dmar today.

What it comes down to is that Kobe is a transcendent talent.
He may not have looked terribly elite during the first championship, but he was playing in the championship.
You know, against the absolute best players in the league.
DeMar would whither and disappear, as he has a tendency to do.
He exhibited a tenacity and a will that DeRozan will never have, and this is why it irks me when these discussions rely too much on statistics.

Anyway, we're just nitpicking because DeMar doesn't need to be Kobe to be elite.

My point was just that comparing him to one of the best players to ever play the game is quite silly.

[Blacklash2k4]

I wouldn't say that he is a franchise player as everyone has stated. He definitely should have all-star considerations right now from his performance as of late, but he's not a franchise player. He needs to play better defense and show more consistency from three. He's definitely a piece that we can keep around. For the level is playing right now, his contract doesn't look as bad as it did last year.

[Masai Ujiri]

In your opinion; in your eyes.

Same goes for you, just your opinion.

Who is the number one wing option he guards on opposing teams? My eyes see Ross, Fields, or Gay on him.

Who does he visibly shut down? I've not come away from any game thinking DD owned that guy on D.

What defensive glass is he owning? League SG average per 48 is 4.6; DD is 3.9.

Solid defender =/= shut down defender. He contains his man and isn't a liability on the defense.

[Masai Ujiri]

Where'd you see this? 82games says +1.8 points/48 with him on the floor...

http://www.82games.com/1314/13TOR6.HTM

Weird, I checked that exact same site earlier today and those are the numbers I saw...