San Antonio Spurs: 3 bold predictions for 2018-19 NBA season
By Luke Swiatek
3. DeMar DeRozan will make the All-NBA First Team
This might sound like a pretty big reach out of the gate, but it’s not. Firstly, All-NBA teams aren’t calculated the same way MVP votes or All-Star teams are, and they can be heavily influenced by narratives.
Case in point: Last year, Damian Lillard made the All-NBA First Team alongside James Harden, while DeRozan and Russell Westbrook represented the All-NBA Second Team. Stephen Curry and Victor Oladipo were the guards on the Third Team.
No one in their right mind thinks that Lillard is the best or second-best guard in the league. However, after leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the third seed in the West and by playing some of the best defense of his life, he got the First Team slot in large part due to the narrative of him finally “unlocking” his full potential.
DeRozan could do the same this year. He won’t be objectively better than Curry or Harden, but he can out-narrative them. If Popovich continues the transformation into a modern guard that DeRozan began last year (and if DeRozan steps it up on defense), he could put up career-best numbers and be rewarded with an All-NBA First Team selection.