NBA: 5 big overreactions at the first quarter mark of the season
By Kyle McKee
Five NBA overreactions through the first quarter of the 2021-22 season.
The NBA season is just over a quarter of the way through. You know what that calls for? That’s right: hot takes and overreactions, so without further ado here are five big overreactions after the first quarter mark of the 2021-22 NBA season.
NBA overreactions: DeMar Derozan is the MVP of the League
This might be more of a “hot take” than an overreaction but, damn it, DeMar DeRozan is having a career year – leading the Chicago Bulls back to prominence – and people need to take notice.
The Bulls have been one of the biggest surprises of the NBA season thus far.
Through the first quarter of the NBA season, the Bulls have fought their way through a tough schedule and survived multiple injuries, demonstrating to NBA experts and fans that they are the real deal.
Chicago, with a record of 17-8, is currently second in the Eastern Conference, only a half-game back of the top-seeded Brooklyn Nets. The driving force behind Chicago’s resurgence this season has been the presence of veteran small-forward, DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan currently leads the Bulls in scoring at 26.4 points (fourth in the NBA). In fact, he’s scored 20 or more points in 19 of the Bulls’ 24 games this season and has scored 25 or more in 15 of the Bulls’ 24 games. The most impressive part of DeRozan’s scoring outburst is that he’s doing it efficiently; shooting an impressive 49.8 percent from the field.
Also, DeMar is also scoring when it matters the most: the fourth quarter. According to Statmuse, DeRozan ranks second in the NBA in fourth-quarter points (7.4), only behind LeBron James (7.6).
With that being said, DeRozan is much more than a scorer. Through his three years spent in San Antonio, DeRozan really developed into a viable good playmaker. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich frequently had Demar as the Spurs’ point-forward, bringing up the ball and looking to set up his younger teammates.
Pop really encouraged DeMar to lead and do whatever the team requires him to do. Those lessons learned in San Antonio have really carried over to Chicago where he is averaging 4.1 assists per game and 5.3 rebounds per game.
The most shocking development of DeRozan’s game is not his playmaking ability though, it’s his improved 3-point shooting.
This season DeRozan is shooting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. If the season ended today, that would be the second-best 3-point percentage of his career. What’s most impressive about this is that DeRozan is attempting the third-most 3’s in his career: 2.5 per game, so he’s attempting more 3’s and making more 3’s. That’s a great combination – 2.5 attempts may not sound like a lot because it isn’t but for a player that averaged less than one three a game over his past three seasons in San Antonio, that’s A TON.
Even though he’s improved his 3-point game, DeRozan is still the same mid-range killer and driver to the bucket he’s always been. In fact, he’s getting to the line an impressive amount, attempting 7.5 free throws a game and shooting 88.8 percent from the line.
Now, with that all being said, he’s still not the MVP frontrunner. He’s probably not in most NBA experts’ and fans’ top three.
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the consensus top-three MVP candidates through the first quarter of the season. However, one statistic in DeRozan’s favor is that he’s played in every single game this season as opposed to Steph, KD, and Giannis who have all missed a few games due to rest or a minor injury.
As we’ve seen throughout the history of the league, games played are a major deciding factor in deciding the MVP award. Just last season, Joel Embiid was the MVP front-runner but then got injured and missed too many games to win the award.
DeMar DeRozan being the MVP of the league so far this season may be an overreaction, but DeRozan has proved so far this season that he needs to be mentioned as one of the game’s elites.