Documenting DeMar DeRozan’s amazing NBA journey

San Antonio introduced a different style of play for DeMar DeRozan

When DeMar was traded to the Spurs, some could say that he was forgotten about. The media definitely wasn’t talking about him nearly as much. This is partly because the Spurs weren’t really competing, but also because he played a much different style of play under Gregg Popovich.

This Spurs style of play is less flashy and focuses on running sets in the half-court. A much more team-oriented style. Getting everyone involved. A style of play that isn’t very exciting in the eyes of your average basketball fan.

DeMar would usually be the guy generating the offense in the half-court. He was the main man in control of the ball most of the time because he was their most gifted scorer, so he often looked to find the open man in the offense, or if he had to, score himself.

So essentially, DeMar became much more of a playmaker in San Antonio. DeMar DeRozan averaged a career-best 6.9 APG in San Antonio – three assists higher than most of his seasons in Toronto.

He had spent his entire career in Toronto with scoring being his first, second, and third option. But in San Antonio, he became more of a “make the right play” scoring-forward.

He had developed himself into a much smarter and better overall player throughout his three seasons in San Antonio. DeMar could now score at will, but he was also ready to dish it off to a teammate when the time was right.

This style of play allowed DeMar DeRozan to truly take his game to the next level.