Kings GM Highlights 'Tremendous Respect' for DeRozan

As respected as he is, he has taken some heat over the course of his career due to his style of play. As the game continues to move away from the mid-range, DeRozan continues to stay where he’s comfortable.

Last year, DeRozan led the league in midrange field goal attempts per game by a very wide margin, with the next closest player, Brandon Ingram, nearly 3 attempts behind. DeMar shoots it exceedingly well from his spots and at times feels impossible to stop, but still, other times it feels like the offense stalls when he gets the ball.

The numbers show that DeRozan is still a good player, despite his limitations defensively and with his shooting range. DeRozan averaged 22 points per game while shooting nearly 48% from the field and dishing out 4.4 assists per game. He didn’t shoot it great from deep, but DeRozan showed a willingness to at least take open 3s.

The Compton, CA native shot 256 triples last season, which is second only to his 17/18 season in Toronto. Another important note is how good DeRozan is at the pick and roll. Among players with at least three pick and roll possessions per game, DeRozan was tied for 7th in points per possession while being 3rd in score frequency.

DeRozan has no issues scoring, but the way in which he scored isn’t exactly ideal. Last season, 57% of DeRozan's made shots were unassisted, which is definitely something that will need to change if Sacramento is going to share the ball the way Doug Christie and Scott Perry want.

The argument for DeRozan has always been that his offense doesn’t equate to team success, but it might have a lot to do with the team around him. DeRozan was a part of all 10 of Sacramento’s top 10 lineups in terms of net rating (with a minimum of 40 minutes played together).

The issue with all of this is that two of the best three lineups also included De’Aaron Fox. After moving Fox and reuniting DeRozan with LaVine, things just never looked the same. The team stumbled to the finish line and looked completely outmatched against a Mavericks team missing Kyrie Irving in the Play-In. Despite how poorly things ended, DeRozan stayed professional, and Perry thinks that this is the norm for him. 

“At every stop he’s been, he’s been professional”

Sacramento is in a bit of a weird spot following the draft. The team traded into the first round to select Nique Clifford and grabbed Maxime Raynaud in the second round, both of whom have shown a ton of promise in Summer League. Now, they have to figure out how to develop both rookies with established veterans above them on the depth chart.

While DeRozan, LaVine, and the rest of the veterans might not be happy about hearing their names in trade rumors, this is where that professionalism and accountability that Scott Perry is preaching come into play. For Sacramento to be successful this season, DeRozan and the other veterans will need to take on different roles than they're used to.

It may take some getting used to for DeRozan, and it may not translate to a deep playoff run, but if DeRozan and the rest of the vets buy in, Sacramento can start laying the foundation of the next iteration of Kings basketball.