NBA: Mike Conley and 4 other starters struggling to start 2019-20
4. DeMar DeRozan, San Antonio Spurs
DeMar DeRozan is certainly one of the hard-luck stories around the NBA currently.
Traded from Toronto after nine seasons with the organization, DeRozan watched on as the man he was traded for (Kawhi Leonard) would take the Raptors on a Championship-winning run, winning their first conference title and ultimately becoming champions of the NBA. All this in the first season after the DeRozan-Leonard trade as well.
Ouch.
DeRozan had an opportunity of his own in San-Antonio however. The Spurs are on a remarkable run, not missing playoff action since way back in the 1996-97 season and DeRozan had the chance to lead them on their own run at the title.
Unfortunately, DeRozan has failed to kick on in his career after peaking in 2016-17 in Toronto.
Even with his impressive 36-point performance against the Mavericks and 31 points against the Wizards, DeRozan is only averaging 21.6 points each game to start the 2019-20 season. His season average for points has steadily declined since averaging 27.3 points-per-game in his 2016-17 season. His 21-point average is the lowest average since 2014-15 for DeRozan.
DeRozan’s shooting has been somewhat varied. He is actually shooting a career-high 52.8 percent from the field and converting on 80 percent of his free throw attempts. Despite this decent shooting, DeRozan’s overall points per game average are still decreasing.
One factor that has always restricted DeRozan his is 3-point shooting ability. He has a career average of just 28 percent from 3-point range and is yet to hit a single 3-pointer this season alone. In a modern-age NBA league that is heavily reliant on 3-point shooters now, DeRozan’s inability to adapt to the change and develop a consistent long-range shot has been a major flaw in his game.
Other areas of DeRozan’s game have started to fall away also. From the 2018-19 season to the start of this season, his rebound average has dropped from six rebounds per game to only 4.8 each night. His assist averages have also fallen from 6.2 per-game to just 4.8 assists this season. The shooting guard is also averaging a career-high 3.1 turnovers per game, a statistic that has been steadily increasing each season for DeRozan.
The worst part of DeRozan’s struggles is that the Spurs are also struggling quite badly.
With a 5-10 start to the season, San Antonio is currently sitting 12th in the Spurs and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in over 20 seasons. With games against the 76ers, Lakers, and Clippers to finish November, the Spurs desperately need someone to stand up and help turn things around.
DeRozan is still the clear No.1 man in San Antonio and he needs to start playing like it if the Spurs want to climb back into playoff relevancy. The guard needs to start taking more of the offensive load on his shoulders and putting up greater production on a consistent basis.