San Antonio Spurs: 5 offseason roster moves they must make
3. Have DeMar DeRozan opt in.
Last season DeMar DeRozan was undoubtedly the offensive leader of the Spurs. He averaged 22.1 points, 5.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. His slash line was .531/.257/.845, which has a massive hole in it.
DeRozan is not a good 3-point shooter. That much has been known for his entire career. Last season he took 96.7 percent of his shots from inside the 3-point arc. Given that Aldridge, Murray and Lyles took only 7.4 attempts from deep combined shows where the Spurs had offensive issues.
However, DeRozan is just too good in the mid range not to have him opt in. The NBA has changed so they value 3-point shooting above all else it seems. This also means that defenses are geared to defend the 3-point line.
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.@DeMar_DeRozan is one of only five players to score 1,500+ points in each of the last five seasons (LeBron James, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook)
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) August 13, 2020
@redbullhoops | #WiiingsCam pic.twitter.com/HnH7ByLYbo
If Popovich can work his magic again, he can exploit this using the abilities of DeRozan. Defending the mid-range is a totally different game than defending the perimeter. The Spurs have a good history of using their point of difference to be competitive when other teams have struggled.
Lastly, if Aldridge is looking to return to Portland for the end of his career then this season needs to be aimed at getting DeRozan to stay. Giving him even greater offensive responsibilities will help this. DeRozan has one more big contract in him and the Spurs need it to be with them.