Bleacher Report on DeMar: "the fact he's earning All-Star berths...is utterly ridiculous"

[___Rand___]

BR keep hatin on the raps.

DD is good enough to be an all-star. All-NBA last season? That one, I am not so sure about.

They keep hating because our stars weren't supposed to be stars. Neither of them had the pre-destiny written on them like Walls or Lebron or Kyrie or any of their ilk. They were developed, manufactured of their own work ethic and will. And that's why they keep hating them. Because they aren't supposed to BELONG THERE. That's why I love them. Flaws and All. They're scrubs. Just like me.

[Johnny Bball]

So let me get this right;

I shouldn't put any faith in the mainstream media that votes for All-NBA players, or the Allstar game where media voted him 2nd and NBA players voted him as third (both meaning he makes it), or coaches when they decided the bench.

I should put my faith into a fan that writes for bleacher report that he's right, and I should put all my chips behind a guy doesn't see half of what DH just posted, and disagrees completely with the above.

[WTNRaps]

You can pull up any advance stats and analytics for every player and pick out a flaw and make your opinion about it. This article is stupid, BR is probably bored so they're doing whatever to get some clicks on their website.

[Potential]

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[Double Helix]

It's really as simple as this. There hasn't been a single team that's made it to the elite 8 in the league without several high usage offensive weapons. And when comparing high usage offensive options throughout the league you have like a top 30, of which Lowry is a member, and of which IDEALLY each team in the league would have one as their top dog. It isn't an ideal NBA though so you have several teams with more than one top 30 player and several without any. Then you have your next tier of offensive weapons to act as robins to those high usage high efficiency / high impact superstars and as an offensive talent that's where Derozan is.

If the Raptors could upgrade him clearly with either another Robin that requires less roster gymnastics to play alongside their stud Kyle Lowry they'd be smart to and probably would do it. That's easier said than done in trades, through the draft or through free agency in the NBA's only cold weather foreign market. Because of that Derozan is given the easier defensive assignment and the organization continues to seek out a wing talented enough to impact opposing wings defensively in that aforementioned top 30 tier along with the Robins just below it. We've tried and failed to find those wings both in free agency and trades and the draft. The latest hope is for OG Anunoby to develop into that guy while Derozan's offensive game (ideally) continues to grow in efficiency.

That's the team strategy from 1-3 right now.

Now, the most strident and misguided who rely exclusively on the all-in-one metrics will have you beleive that every small minute analytics darling wing is ready for prime time as a starter over more minutes and higher usage (just as they'd have you beleive Amir Johnson is still ready to play 36 minutes or that Lucas Nogueira (top 35 in RPM) is Rudy Gobert 2.0. Or, that you can get by without a high usage scorer next to Lowry at all and that surrounding Lowry more with CJ Miles types and "encouraging more ball movement" and encouraging 3 point shooting specialists to just shoot more is all that would be required to take the team to the next level and it's with those kinds of assessments that I disagree. Sure... if you find the next Eric Bledsoe or Isiah Thomas off a bench with room to grow and you're seeing elite offensive efficiency in a 6 man role over 28 minutes or so you (and many other GMs in the league) will start thinking that guy could be capable of running his own team or playing alongside a top 30 talent (if sizes permit) as a starter over more usage and more minutes but how many of those are out there right now clearly better than Derozan as potential Robin's next to Lowry and what are the chances of acquiring one? Masai already considered such a move years ago and that player was Eric Bledsoe himself. He'd be game but the Robins who are clearly better than Derozan who can play next to Lowry and have us on their trade request lists are not plentiful. Young or old. If Kyrie was 6'4 and capable of guarding SGs at a rate comparable to Derozan and interested in staying long term in Toronto you could bet our organization would be interested. He hasn't expressed interest and can't guard SGs and wants the Lowry role.

Find me a better Robin for Lowry than Derozan that wants to be here and let's get him. Until then, Derozan is our flawed striker or NHL sniper or this era's Rip Hamilton. A high usage scorer for a team that needs one like him or one better to pair with Lowry for this team to have at minimum a dynamic duo that can play off each other and create for a team desperate for it. Because as much as Lowry and Derozan have struggled at times in the playoffs imagine what lesser talents less capable would look like with defences locked into tendencies and scouting reports and staying at home on shooters that don't have much game beyond hitting open shots created for them by Lowry and Derozan. If the Pistons could have upgraded Rip Hamilton for another high usage offensive weapon better than him they would have but in the absence of that Rip Hamilton became a big piece for them and all star whose flaws aren't worlds apart from Derozan's. You can win with Phil Kessell's and Rip Hamilton's and Diego Costas (each with their own warts when viewed comparably to more well rounded talents) if you need what they bring and make use of it with superior talents alongside them.

[YogurtProducer]

You know he isn't wrong guys I don't know why you're all so offended.

He says he is a fringe all star aka between the 25th-35th best player in the NBA. That doesn't sound wrong at all.

Like really, imagine if Derozan was on another team, would you want him to be your centerpiece? If you ignore "loyalty", is he still as valuable as you think? Imo, I would rather not have my team build around a guy who soaks up 30%USG on meh efficiency, who doesn't pass the ball at a high level, who is one of the worst defensive players in the league, and cannot shoot the 3. The article states he's best as a secondary or teritiary player and that's 100% true. His best role (and the only role he will ever have on a true contender) would be as a 3rd option/sixth man aka James Harden/Manu Ginobili. He simply shouldn't be soaking up as many possessions as he does

On the other hand, were probably unable to find a better player anytime soon. I would be interested in how this team would look without Demar and instead with a high level defender who can shoot (say, Middleton) but even the best case difference is so small it doesn't even matter to discuss.

[Thrilla4Manila]

Bunch of clowns at BR
#ProveEm

[Rapcity_11]

So let me get this right;

I shouldn't put any faith in the mainstream media that votes for All-NBA players, or the Allstar game where media voted him 2nd and NBA players voted him as third (both meaning he makes it), or coaches when they decided the bench.

I should put my faith into a fan that writes for bleacher report that he's right, and I should put all my chips behind a guy doesn't see half of what DH just posted, and disagrees completely with the above.

Wait, do people still not realize that not only fans write for BR?

[TheRealDeal]

This is just fuel for DeMar's summer workout fire

[Moose23]

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honestly any comparison to MJ is blasphemy and utterly moronic.

[7 Footer]

Utterly ridiculous... #FOH

[xAIRNESSx]

selections*

[Potential]

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honestly any comparison to MJ is blasphemy and utterly moronic.

Those tweets aren't fake

[DrCoach]

I don't disagree with the article as a whole. Aldridge, Arenas, Ewing, Wilkens, Maravich, Rondo and Demar are all overhyped.

Aldridge is a lesser version of Bosh.
Arenas had a few good years and that's it.
Ewing benefited from playing in NYC.
Wilkens dunks overshadowed his shortcomings.
The Demar love probably comes from the fact that Americans only see his highlights and not his actual games.
Rondo is still feasting off the Boston Big 3 recognition.
Maravich gets love due to his play-style but, he had huge shortcomings - very similar to the love that Jason Williams gets.
I'm not sure why they put Ellis on the list.

Ewing overhyped?????? SMH

[Harold_and_Kumar]

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honestly any comparison to MJ is blasphemy and utterly moronic.

Those tweets aren't fake

On Thursday evening games in November against the Central division when it's snowing after two days rest, Demar has a TS% of .700 in the fourth quarter with six minutes or less left in a game decided by 5 or less points.

[Potential]

honestly any comparison to MJ is blasphemy and utterly moronic.

Those tweets aren't fake

On Thursday evening games in November against the Central division when it's snowing after two days rest, Demar has a TS% of .700 in the fourth quarter with six minutes or less left in a game decided by 5 or less points.

Yeah ok let's ignore the clutch game in the most famous arena in the world and also the Celtics game on ESPN at home without Lowry and the game 7 3rd quarter takeover against Indy and the Game 3 and 4 in the ECF. #FakeAllStar #MiddletonBetter #

[Arman_tanzarian]

Adam Fromal's TPA stat is an absolute joke. BPM is too box score dependant to be useful by itself. Heck he's been trying to push TPA in all of his articles. I do agree DeMar is overrated though. He's bot trash though like TPA tries to make it sound.

[Arman_tanzarian]

Just read the rest of the debacle. Lol points per field goal attempt. What's the use in that for a player who has a high propensity to manfucature a good chunk of his points of FTAs. He could have easily used True Shooting Attempts but decided to use raw FGs.

[BetterCallSaul]

It's a bloody miracle we even made the play-offs given we were dragging this overpaid bum and Kyle was injured for a quarter of the season.
DeMarre, Pat, Cory and Val must have had incredible seasons for us.

[DonMega]

And everyone cries when I tell them demar's contract is the worst in the nba