Potential trade candidate No. 8: DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan is quietly playing some of the best and most efficient basketball of his career. Since his arrival in San Antonio that fateful summer of 2018, DeRozan is averaging 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.0 steals in 34.4 minutes per game. Not known for his perimeter shooting, DeRozan is shooting a career-best 34.9 percent from behind the arc this season.
The four-time All-Star has averaged at least 20 ppg for eight consecutive seasons. DeRozan is an assassin inside the arc, converting 51.3 percent of his two-point field goals. He also possesses one of the best mid-range games in the league; according to NBA stats, he’s converted exactly half of his mid-range attempts (47-94) this season.
He can still score at will and does a good job keeping his teammates involved. DeRozan has proven that his superior scoring ability will not get in the way of his proclivity to be efficient and reliable. His unselfishness on the court, coupled with his ability to run the pick and roll, allows him to act as a secondary playmaker in a lineup. Don’t believe me? In his 12th NBA season, DeRozan is averaging a career-high 6.7 assists per game.
He’s never been an elite defender, but he gives energy and effort; in a league where coaches rarely hold their players accountable on that end anymore, that’s all you can really ask of him.
As he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and with the franchise in the early stages of a rebuild, expect the Spurs to move him to a contender or a team looking to eat contracts before the March 25th deadline.