DeMar DeRozan Wants To Be Known As Greatest Raptor In Franchise History

[RealGM Wiretap]

DeMar DeRozan re-signed with the Toronto Raptors on a five-year, $145 million deal and is now setting his sights on becoming the best player in franchise history.

"Without a doubt. No question," said DeRozan when posed with the question. "How many people get to say they hold one record for an organization, or were on the winningest team in Raptors history, or did this with one organization? All of those things last longer than your playing career. It took time for me to get out of the second round [of the playoffs] in Raptors history. And we did that [this year], and that’s something that is going to be there.

"If we don’t do it and someone else wins a championship, they are still going to revert back to the 2015-16 team as the best team until then. Ten, 15, 20 years from now, whatever it might be, those things last longer. It’s something you put your all into."

DeRozan chose to re-sign with the Raptors despite expected offers from the Lakers, Clippers and Heat.

Via Marc J. Spears/The Undefeated

[StayCool]

Regardless of all the ups and downs, you have to give him props for his loyalty. Toronto was once a team most players would place at the bottom of their destination wish list, reason why so many stars came and left whenever they had the chance to do so. For the first time, DD changed this perception and it has helped 're-brand' the Raptors franchise. Players actually want to play for this city and the country. I know this is still a long shot, but with a few key additions, Raptors may be a championship contender. And if he ever wins a championship with the Raps (hey, they lost to the champion Cavs 4-2, who knows ), imagine all the love and respect he will get, he will be a GOD. They will make a gold statue of him in Jurassic Park. And I think this is what DD wants. He is a very ambitious player and he sees the opportunity to be the most iconic athlete ever in Canada. Plus, he has improved every single year.

[Sam195]

Derozan is going down as the highest paid raptor in nba history right now not the best - I think there is still great player who will arrive in Canada either through the draft or free agency (Wiggins Please !!!) in the future who will be better Derozan didn't really take a discount - his full max would have been 5 years 153M (Mike Conley Money) but he took 8M less so Masai would give him a player option on the final year so he can ink another max deal at 31 - Conley doesn't have an opt out. And had Derozan left he would have gotten Al Horford money 4 years 113M from lakers, clippers or heat. Derozan doesn't have much of a resume like other stars in the league so that extra 30M in guaranteed salary is a better financial decision for him. The recent career turns of Chris Bosh and Andrew Bynum show the value of guaranteed salary and what happens if you take discounts, shorter deals or hold out for for money in free agency or for a higher salary cap. After Lebron left the Heat in 2014, Rockets and Lakers offered Bosh a 4 year 88M max deal (with opt out after 3 years so he could capitalize on a rising salary cap at age 33) but he chose to stay with the heat for a longer deal and more guaranteed money 5 years 118M (now with his blood clots, if Bosh retires he still gets paid the rest of his contract including extra 30M for staying in Miami). When Bynum got traded to 76ers, the new ownership group offered him a max 3 year extension of 65M but he declined it in favor of holding out for free agency a year later in order to sign a bigger 5 year 100M+ deal. Than Bynums knees and his career gave out and he lost that chance at guaranteed max money. Lance Stephenson also made a similar mistake leaving Indiana and it's larger contract offer for the Charlotte Hornets and now he's barely surviving in the league playing on tryout deals. Only the leagues top stars like Lebron and Durant can truly test free agency or opt for shorter term deals inorder to capitalize on rising salary caps and fatter contracts.

[Hoopzilla]

I am glad to see Demar is looking at the big picture and is showing his will and desire to be better every year. He can't and probably will never be able to shoot threes, but he always proves to be effective nonetheless. Let's see if he can progress and excel in the playoffs this year.

[YogurtProducer]

Demar you're not even the best player on the team right now and I don't think you've ever been the best player on a team at any point in your career lol

[Dennis 37]

DeMar only has Kyle Lowry as competition. Loyalty is more important than flash in the pan talent that bolt when things get tough. Well DeMar suffered through a lot of losing and could have bolted, like those others who didn't have as much pride or fight in them, but he didn't.

Will he be the greatest talent to ever play for the Raptors, maybe not. But Raptor fans value much more than just the talent one possesses.

[ThatClockWork]

A lot of Raptors fans love to revise history. They'll have you thinking that Demar's nine game stretch > anything Vince Carter ever did for the franchise if you let them.

I respect his statement and I know he understands that he needs to get better on the defensive side of the ball if he's going to live up to that label. Until then .. see my avatar.

[mawbsta]

Regardless of all the ups and downs, you have to give him props for his loyalty. Toronto was once a team most players would place at the bottom of their destination wish list, reason why so many stars came and left whenever they had the chance to do so. For the first time, DD changed this perception and it has helped 're-brand' the Raptors franchise. Players actually want to play for this city and the country. I know this is still a long shot, but with a few key additions, Raptors may be a championship contender. And if he ever wins a championship with the Raps (hey, they lost to the champion Cavs 4-2, who knows ), imagine all the love and respect he will get, he will be a GOD. They will make a gold statue of him in Jurassic Park. And I think this is what DD wants. He is a very ambitious player and he sees the opportunity to be the most iconic athlete ever in Canada. Plus, he has improved every single year.

Toronto remains the place where MOST players would not come to play. It's still a different country - and that's a big deal for ignorant american athletes. It's a persona - expansion - international - that will not go away until Toronto wins a championship - period

[The_Hater]

Question? Is it possible to be the best player in franchise history when you've never been the best player on any single team you've played on?

[gerrit4]

Question? Is it possible to be the best player in franchise history when you've never been the best player on any single team you've played on?

Oddly enough, I think it is. That may just be a sad thing about the history of this franchise.

Demar's been the second best player on the team for quite a few years. Bosh was the best player, but mostly on terrible teams. Vince was obviously a superior player, but flamed out and screwed over the franchise for years (don't get me wrong, I think management was also to blame).

It's not fair to only use winning percentage, as he's clearly had a better roster than those guys did. But those guys both peaked at 47 wins, which over the course of the amount of seasons they each played here, is pretty terrible. I think Bosh only won like 4 playoff games here. Again, that's not a fair stat because neither of those guys had this type of support, but it certainly is still a relevant stat.

If Derozan can be a similar talent (borderline all-star) for a few more years, it might just do it. Although, I guess you could say the same thing about Lowry.

[The_Hater]

Question? Is it possible to be the best player in franchise history when you've never been the best player on any single team you've played on?

Oddly enough, I think it is. That may just be a sad thing about the history of this franchise.

Demar's been the second best player on the team for quite a few years. Bosh was the best player, but mostly on terrible teams. Vince was obviously a superior player, but flamed out and screwed over the franchise for years (don't get me wrong, I think management was also to blame).

It's not fair to only use winning percentage, as he's clearly had a better roster than those guys did. But those guys both peaked at 47 wins, which over the course of the amount of seasons they each played here, is pretty terrible. I think Bosh only won like 4 playoff games here. Again, that's not a fair stat because neither of those guys had this type of support, but it certainly is still a relevant stat.

If Derozan can be a similar talent (borderline all-star) for a few more years, it might just do it. Although, I guess you could say the same thing about Lowry.

Good argument but I think Demar is getting bonus points for longevity and the old fashioned counting stat total points scored even though he still can't catch Lowry, Bosh and VC in most advanced stats or peak level production. Kyle Lowry already has more win shares in 4 seasons than Demar has in 7 seasons.

So if the relevant tie-breaking stat is team success, shouldn't Kyle not DD leap to the top of the list?

[babyjax13]

Question? Is it possible to be the best player in franchise history when you've never been the best player on any single team you've played on?

Oddly enough, I think it is. That may just be a sad thing about the history of this franchise.

Demar's been the second best player on the team for quite a few years. Bosh was the best player, but mostly on terrible teams. Vince was obviously a superior player, but flamed out and screwed over the franchise for years (don't get me wrong, I think management was also to blame).

It's not fair to only use winning percentage, as he's clearly had a better roster than those guys did. But those guys both peaked at 47 wins, which over the course of the amount of seasons they each played here, is pretty terrible. I think Bosh only won like 4 playoff games here. Again, that's not a fair stat because neither of those guys had this type of support, but it certainly is still a relevant stat.

If Derozan can be a similar talent (borderline all-star) for a few more years, it might just do it. Although, I guess you could say the same thing about Lowry.

Good argument but I think Demar is getting bonus points for longevity and the old fashioned counting stat total points scored even though he still can't catch Lowry, Bosh and VC in most advanced stats or peak level production. Kyle Lowry already has more win shares in 4 seasons than Demar has in 7 seasons.

So if the relevant tie-breaking stat is team success, shouldn't Kyle not DD leap to the top of the list?

Well, if he somehow continues playing the way he is now, he may put up the best individual statistical season in franchise history, and that would at least make the discussion more interesting.

[The_Hater]

Oddly enough, I think it is. That may just be a sad thing about the history of this franchise.

Demar's been the second best player on the team for quite a few years. Bosh was the best player, but mostly on terrible teams. Vince was obviously a superior player, but flamed out and screwed over the franchise for years (don't get me wrong, I think management was also to blame).

It's not fair to only use winning percentage, as he's clearly had a better roster than those guys did. But those guys both peaked at 47 wins, which over the course of the amount of seasons they each played here, is pretty terrible. I think Bosh only won like 4 playoff games here. Again, that's not a fair stat because neither of those guys had this type of support, but it certainly is still a relevant stat.

If Derozan can be a similar talent (borderline all-star) for a few more years, it might just do it. Although, I guess you could say the same thing about Lowry.

Good argument but I think Demar is getting bonus points for longevity and the old fashioned counting stat total points scored even though he still can't catch Lowry, Bosh and VC in most advanced stats or peak level production. Kyle Lowry already has more win shares in 4 seasons than Demar has in 7 seasons.

So if the relevant tie-breaking stat is team success, shouldn't Kyle not DD leap to the top of the list?

Well, if he somehow continues playing the way he is now, he may put up the best individual statistical season in franchise history, and that would at least make the discussion more interesting.

That's a good point although he's on pace to put up the highest ppg season in team history, I'm not sure that's the same as the best individual season. He is playing great on offense but he's also probably having his worst defensive season in recent memory and he wasn't a good defensive player to begin with.

On top of this, even with the best 15 game streak of DeRozan's career going on, a large majority of Raptor fans still consider him the team's 2nd best player to Lowry and most advanced stats point to Lowry having a better individual impact this season.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1493219

[arasu]

Advanced stats are in their infancy still, and may never explain every nuance of the game. There is something to be said for volume scorers that many people refuse to acknowledge. As an example, let's say team X is playing an opponent with its only defensive weakness in an area of the floor which team X is very inefficient. Let's say team X's best scorer is the only player who can hit enough shots from that area of the floor to exploit that defensive weakness and make a difference. Shots taken by other players on team X will either be outside of their range or taken in the teeth of the opposing defense, resulting in very bad shots. Now if that leading scorer takes a high volume of inefficient shots (compared to the league average), yet his shots fall with more frequency than the opponent's defense would allow his teammates to shoot, his shooting becomes their only and best hope. If they win the game, their leading scorer deserves a very large percentage of the credit, regardless of his shooting percentage/turnovers. In a game where points determine who wins, points matter more than efficiency. Efficiency on the shots the opponent gives up matter more than simple stat ratio's. Efficiency within a particular game matters far more than it does when compared to other players playing in other games. Since advanced stats have become more popular, volume scorers have started to earn a more negative reputation than they deserve. Though with that said, "shot jackers" can also shoot a team into a loss that they would have otherwise won. Looking at the individual games is far more telling than simply checking stats, advanced or otherwise.

DeRozan has never been the volume shot jacker in the mold of Jerry Stackhouse. This year he is especially efficient, posting a very high TS% for such a high volume of scoring. His PER is MVP level. If he can keep up this kind of production, he will have had the best single season stat production by any Raptor by far. If they continue to win more than 60% of their games as well, he will certainly be in the MVP conversation. In my opinion, having a season for the ages trumps having several elite seasons. Carter, Bosh, and Lowry all belong among the greatest Raptors, but if DeMar can maintain his current pace, he will surpass all of them.

[babyjax13]

Good argument but I think Demar is getting bonus points for longevity and the old fashioned counting stat total points scored even though he still can't catch Lowry, Bosh and VC in most advanced stats or peak level production. Kyle Lowry already has more win shares in 4 seasons than Demar has in 7 seasons.

So if the relevant tie-breaking stat is team success, shouldn't Kyle not DD leap to the top of the list?

Well, if he somehow continues playing the way he is now, he may put up the best individual statistical season in franchise history, and that would at least make the discussion more interesting.

That's a good point although he's on pace to put up the highest ppg season in team history, I'm not sure that's the same as the best individual season. He is playing great on offense but he's also probably having his worst defensive season in recent memory and he wasn't a good defensive player to begin with.

On top of this, even with the best 15 game streak of DeRozan's career going on, a large majority of Raptor fans still consider him the team's 2nd best player to Lowry and most advanced stats point to Lowry having a better individual impact this season.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1493219

Good to know. As someone who doesn't follow them especially closely it is good to hear from fans who are more educated : )