DreamTeam09 wrote:
So what does that mean, the DeMar shouldn't be in the NBA?? Or that mgmt should try and collect the best assortment of players / schemes to surround your players to try and acquire the chip.
Reductio ad absurdem much?
There is a wide space between "shouldnt be a #1 option on a contending team" and "shouldnt be in the league." Let us not play silly games.
Demar has utility in a variety of roles. And on a weaker team (like the Raps squads he played on at first), he has utility for building playoff consistency. Pulling a team out of a gutter like we were in, for example (alongside appropriate other talent).
But on a team looking to contend against the elite, you need to move to the next kind of option. That's all. The Raptors were able to go on some decent playoff runs with him, but he held them back because he wasnt a given level of player. That's not a sin, per se, but it matters if a title is actually the goal. Hence the trade.
For a team that is just trying to get into the playoffs and maybe win a round, he's a decent option. And if you support your offense with a high-efficiency second option and can play a decent possession-protrection game, you can extend utility some. We did that with Lowry, for example. And if you can rebound well offensively, you can make up some for his low-efficiency volume 2s. Improving team D (which he doesnt help much) can afford you some more leeway as well.
So there are mitigating factors to a certain degree of tolerance. Working around a lower-tier volume scorer to build the best team possible. Especially in this era, it's fairly hard to get away with someone like Demar if you're legitimately attempting to contend. This is only further exacerbated by his poor playoff habits and performance.
Teams will do what they must, but everyone in Toronto and San Antonio knew where this was going to go for Chicago. It's okay. They made the playoffs. Demar may improve some as the series goes on and be a bit more competitive. He usually isnt THIS bad, I mean he does have skill. Long defenders frustrate him, always have. He finishes well at the rim when he gets there, but can be kept away from that fairly easily, especially because he does a lot of isolations. Frustratingly, as a younger player, he was a better off-ball slasher than he has been since turning into a primary option. He has fallen victim to hero ball-itis like a turn-of-the-century And-1 baller, and fallen hard. And since he isnt a consistent/reliable 3pt shooter (his RS 3P% this year notwithstanding), you cant really use him as a significant catch-and-shoot option. So he is where he is. When the Js fall, he's good. When they don't, he js garbage. Such is the capricious nature of jumpshooting.
