San Antonio Spurs: DeMar DeRozan entering a crossroads season

Kept out of sight on the San Antonio Spurs with an opt-out clause coming, the 2019-20 campaign will prove crucial for DeMar DeRozan.

It was an interesting 2018-19 season for DeMar DeRozan filled with new experiences. A member of the Toronto Raptors for nearly a decade, he’d been traded from the only team he’d ever known as a sacrificial lamb, only to wind up on one of the most successful franchises of the century.

During his inaugural run with the San Antonio Spurs, the four-time All-Star posted his lowest scoring average in five years that coincided with his highest field goal percentage since his rookie season. DeRozan averaged career highs in rebounds and assists per game while leading the Spurs to within a game of the conference semis.

Despite the success on paper, something about his entire performance seemed empty of any real value. San Antonio won 48 games on the year but found themselves better at both ends in DeRozan’s absence. His net-rating clocked in at 0.0, a startlingly low level of impact given the rarified air his numbers place him in.

There were only four players to average 21 points, six assists and six rebounds last season: James Harden, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan. He was a valued member of one of the best Eastern Conference teams as a Raptor but couldn’t seem to generate the same contributions on one that puts no individual above the rest.

Having signed his most recent contract in the summer of 2016, DeRozan finds himself with an opt-out clause for the 2020-21 season at approximately $27 million. It’s an awfully large figure to turn down, but one that wouldn’t sting as much with the knowledge that a more lucrative contract was on the way, but figuring out the location of such a deal is tricky.

DeRozan isn’t just a talented 2-guard. He goes about his basketball ways in a manner different from his contemporaries, with an emphasis on mid-range jumpers in the mold of Kobe Bryant and a disdain for the 3-point prowess teams desperately covet.

His antiquated style of play is why the Spurs seemed like a perfect fit, ranking first in the percentage of points produced by those same elbow-looks last season as well as dead last in attempts from beyond the arc. Yet even they don’t seem too high on their blockbuster acquisition from a season ago, having already looked to get his money off the books this past summer.

Few are in the market for a career 28.3 percent outside shooter on just 1.6 attempts a night but could come to stomach his 3-point indifference in exchange for a consistent 20 point per game scorer.

It’s why the coming season puts the 30-year-old at a pivotal point in his stellar career. where success could generate close to a max contract while anything resembling failure may make future negotiations difficult.

The Spurs haven’t missed the playoffs since 1997, but a ruthlessly competitive Western Conference leaves no guarantees for that streak to continue. Few are high on this team, and yet it’s one that will see the return of its starting point guard, having taken the two-seeded Denver Nuggets to a Game 7 last postseason.

A second-round appearance could speak volumes to DeRozan’s on-court abilities, enough to create interest among those unhappy with their standing in the NBA’s greater hierarchy. Unfortunately, the 2019 summer of spending left little money for next offseason, which could prompt DeRozan to play out the full length of his deal to expand his options.

No matter the year he enters the free-agency pool, DeRozan will have to deal with the harsh realities of a league that hasn’t completely passed him by, but one that fails to appreciate what he brings to the court.

He was the original king of the north, one who served as the but of all jokes at the expense of LeBron James. Now, DeRozan is out of sight down in the Alamo City with a level of value that seems to depreciate more and more each day.

Without a heavy reliance on athleticism, DeRozan could play well into his late 30s. If he can’t figure out a way to translate his skill-set into the winning ways his counting numbers would suggest, he might not have many suitors asking him to.