DeMar DeRozan Leads the NBA in MPG

[boozapalooza]

We're constantly playing close games, its hard to criticize the coach for playing his best players in the clutch moments.

The few times we've been up 8-10 points with 4 minutes left and Billy still had the starters in I've seen complaints about it.

People didn't like Thibs' minutes because both he & the Bulls were contending and should have been paced for a long PS.
Billy playing the Bulls like 82 is the entire season is perfectly reasonable.

Also, Thibs had an airtight defensive system drilled into everyone's heads and a very strong bench with Taj and Asik who were at times better than the starters.

Billy's got Andre Drummond and Onuralp Bitim.

Theres no issue with playing starters in the clutch, but Billy has to manage minutes better earlier in the game. Demar can play 36 min a night and still play the majority of the 4th. Manage guys workloads better earlier on. We’ll be out of gas long before the play in games at this rate.

[WindyCityBorn]

I'm not arguing that he has declined... at least not on this post.

But the idea that taking Lavine's usage away and plugging in Coby's is the reason for a reduction in scoring just doesn't pass the smell test.

So, I looked up the objective data. His FG% is down significantly to his worst in the last 6 seasons. He is only taking one less shot attempt per game, and that is pretty much erased from a possession standpoint by his .5 increase in FTA per game. His PER is the lowest it has been since 2016. His TS% the lowest since 2019.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

Anyone who is arguing that DeRozan isn’t declining is real time is in denial. He is clearly not the same player he was two seasons ago. He might have 1 or 2 more seasons a middling first option left. One a great team he would be 3rd option now.

And again you've shifted the goal posts, you said clearly declining and now you've backtracked to just declining.

He is clearly declining. He is no where near the same player he was 2 years ago which was literally a top 10 player. And the other member gave you the stats to show much worse his worse his efficiency is. Just because he is still really good doesn’t mean he has not shown clear decline.

[sco]

Anyone who is arguing that DeRozan isn’t declining is real time is in denial. He is clearly not the same player he was two seasons ago. He might have 1 or 2 more seasons a middling first option left. One a great team he would be 3rd option now.

And again you've shifted the goal posts, you said clearly declining and now you've backtracked to just declining.

He is clearly declining. He is no where near the same player he was 2 years ago which was literally a top 10 player. And the other member gave you the stats to show much worse his worse his efficiency is. Just because he is still really good doesn’t mean he has not shown clear decline.

I think it's hard to tell this year given that he has no Zach to shoulder any offensive attention, although Coby has stepped up, he doesn't get the same attention yet. I am amazed to see him dunking so much this season and being a respectable 3pt shooter. He's not Lebron, but he is very durable and plays at a high level in an absolute sense, not just for a 33 year old.

[kodo]

His ability to cheese/tactically draw free throws is consistent and will likely still be there for him in the next few years.
What's dropped is his ability to make normal buckets especially near the rim. Last season he was 73% near the rim, this season 67%. Still good, but a huge drop.

The question is that he's already at league average efficiency in scoring now (58%), if he drops as expected even more next year does it makes sense to run plays where Demar just pounds the ball and does his FT drawing routine because everyone else just stands around & watches when we do this. All for a below league average TS play.

[sco]

His ability to cheese/tactically draw free throws is consistent and will likely still be there for him in the next few years.
What's dropped is his ability to make normal buckets especially near the rim. Last season he was 73% near the rim, this season 67%. Still good, but a huge drop.

The question is that he's already at league average efficiency in scoring now (58%), if he drops as expected even more next year does it makes sense to run plays where Demar just pounds the ball and does his FT drawing routine because everyone else just stands around & watches when we do this. All for a below league average TS play.

Good synopsis. I'll be optimistic that the loss of Zach, who if nothing else, gave teams another scorer to focus on, made it harder for Demar this year.

[kodo]

Would Derozan have been a superstar in the 80s/90s? I wonder if he was born in the wrong era.

[PurpleTrees]

The problem with projecting Demar's value this way is that Demar is a ball dominant isolation scorer and always has been. Considering his age, most likely only contending teams would have strong interest, and they all already have better #1 options, so chemistry becomes a major concern. Nobody offered Demar anywhere near what you're suggesting 2.5 years ago, and yes there has been inflation but age does always matter and he's not any better now than he was then, so not sure why you're so sure he'll get paid big.

Im going strictly by the facts here. There's no need to interject hypotheticals lol. GMs make free agent mistakes all the time while other GMs find diamonds. Steve Nash, Derozan, e.t.c.

Im not sure why youre so against it anyway. What are you going to do with the extra 10 mil per year?

Especially when:

The Bulls have 70 mil on the Bench. I think turning those into assets that can actually contribute is more of a priority to AKME than trying to penny pinch with an all NBA DDR.

Like I said, I guess we'll see.

You're going by facts? Not interjecting hypotheticals?

They most likely offered a 2/60-65 deal which Demars camp laughed at.

For Demar to stay in Chicago, the Bulls are going to have to offer at least a 3 year 115 deal or more.

Interesting.......

Read on Twitter

[League Circles]

Im going strictly by the facts here. There's no need to interject hypotheticals lol. GMs make free agent mistakes all the time while other GMs find diamonds. Steve Nash, Derozan, e.t.c.

Im not sure why youre so against it anyway. What are you going to do with the extra 10 mil per year?

Especially when:

The Bulls have 70 mil on the Bench. I think turning those into assets that can actually contribute is more of a priority to AKME than trying to penny pinch with an all NBA DDR.

Like I said, I guess we'll see.

You're going by facts? Not interjecting hypotheticals?

They most likely offered a 2/60-65 deal which Demars camp laughed at.

For Demar to stay in Chicago, the Bulls are going to have to offer at least a 3 year 115 deal or more.

Interesting.......

Read on Twitter

I mean yeah, he's eligible for all nba and eligible for that contract. Most players are. The question is, how many players at age 35 get offered almost twice what they got offered on the open market 3 years prior? I'm not even questioning whether or not he's worth it, I just heavily doubt he'll get very close to it. I'd be shocked if he gets over 100 mil from anyone.

[Ice Man]

Side note, but I think I was right 3 years ago when I said that the Heat made the wrong choice. They signed Lowry instead of DeMar. Each player cost the same, but the Heat chose Lowry because it wanted to fill its PG slot (vacated by Dragic), and presumably because there wouldn't be enough 3 point shooting with Butler and DDR as its wings.

My take was yeah OK, but one guy is old and fat and the other can still play. And ultimately, while fit is important, getting good players is even more important.

The difference between those two guys has mattered A LOT to the Heat. Not last year. They made the Finals and would have lost to Denver regardless. But the year before the Heat lost in Game 7 of the ECF with Butler playing great that series but Lowry shooting 27% from the field (not the 3 point line, the field!) and having a 1.3 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He was AWFUL. Almost certainly, replacing him with DeMar would have put the Heat into the Finals.

And this year Lowry was an expiring dump trade, while DeMar is closing out games in a way that every playoff hopeful would like to have.

One of Riley's biggest mistakes. He had $80 million to spend on a 3rd star to pair with prime Butler and prime Bam, and he botched the decision.

[drosestruts]

let's talk All-NBA - because I legit think DeMar is making a case for maybe 2nd team but definitely 1st team

1st team: Jokic - SGA - Doncic - Giannis - Tatum seems about right and probably pretty set

2nd team: AD - Sabonis - Brunson - Kawhi - Durant

3rd team - Gobert - Haliburton - Harden - Jarret Allen - DeRozan???

Do Booker or Derrick White deserve over DeRozan?

Do you give the Lakers, the 9th seed two All-NBA players? AD and LeBron

Will Haliburton hit 65 games? Will Indiana drop in the standings before all is said and done?

Cleveland has clearly performed well - their best player Mitchell won't meet the games played requirement. Do you award Allen for that in Mitchell's place?

DeMar is up to 12th in Win Shares, is leading the league in minutes, is likely the clutch player of the year. It's a good resume for a player on a team with $70m+ out with injuries for the majority of the season

[Red8911]

Demar leading the league in minutes puts all the younger players who rest all the time or time manage to shame. This is why Demar is awesome.

Guy is professional, loves the game and all he wants to do is play basketball.Most importantly he doesn’t pick and choose games, he doesn’t want to take off or sit at all. Hope the younger fellows follow his footsteps and try to do the same.

[kodo]

Do non-All Stars ever make All-NBA?
Lebron is a starting All-Star, there's no way he'll not make an All-NBA team.
Jaylen Brown is also a lock at F, he was 2nd team last year and his team is better this year.
Paul George & Butler & Randle are also in the mix at F.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Banchero makes it, the reality is that's not a star laden ORL team and he has them within a few W's of Milwaukee & CLE.