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San Antonio Spurs: Takeaways from NBA.com’s All-Decade team release

By Marlow Ferguson Jr.

Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Off estimation, how far off was DeRozan?

Moving on to another current San Antonio Spurs star, it’s worth wondering just how close DeMar DeRozan was to making an All-Decade Team.

In total, there were six guards named to the teams: Harden, Curry, Westbrook, Paul, Bryant, and Wade. With the exception of Paul, each of those players were recognized as either NBA champions or Most Valuable Player award winners throughout the decade.

To be clear, flipping DeRozan in for any of those six would be difficult. Though, it’s worth wondering who would have been next in line.

In an article listing out some of the snubs, Ken Kluska of Blasting News threw out nine different backcourt snubs of the decade, and there were at least six or seven that had an at least compelling case to overwhelm DeRozan as the top snub.

Klay Thompson, for example, had an eight-year span where he won three NBA championships, topped DeRozan’s All-Star appearances five to four, and added All-Defensive Team and All-NBA nods to his resumé.

Players like Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Jimmy Butler also had accolades and near decade-long production that could’ve ensured them a spot.

Using Kluska’s snubs, here’s how the Spurs’ 30-year-old star guard matched up with the competition.

All-Star appearances: 4

All-NBA appearances: 2

  • (tied for third behind: Damian Lillard and Tony Parker)

Games played: 752

  • (first among all snubs, fourth in all of NBA)

Points scored: 14,931

  • (first among all snubs, seventh in all of NBA)

Playoff series wins: 4

  • (tied for sixth; ahead of Butler, Rose, and Wall)

As history would have it, DeRozan stands out as both a prolific scorer among the competition, and he probably doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to either play through pain, or avoid it altogether.

The only three players to be more “available” for their teams more than DeRozan (752 games) were: Serge Ibaka (753), James Harden (765), and DeAndre Jordan (766).

Unfortunately, both media perception and the stiff competition ahead of him makes it difficult to fathom DeRozan having an extremely strong case for an All-Decade Team in either the 2010s, or the ensuing decade.

Much has been made of the “big-name bias” that came with including Bryant, especially since his career fell off of a cliff post-2013. Nonetheless, even without him, it’s reasonable to think Kyrie Irving’s resumé, or even Thompson or Lillard would’ve been next up.

With no shame whatsoever, DeRozan would have realistically been fourth or fifth on the totem pole.

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