A few days ago, I asked a series of questions on Instagram about the Nuggets recently signing DeMar DeRozan, one of the NBA’s great modern day scorers.
Now, let’s answer them.
Question #1: Going into his 18th season, how much does DeRozan have left in the tank?
I think plenty. And especially if he is coming off the bench, which would just preserve the best parts of his game without having a season-long wear down. Now having said that, DeRozan is one of the most durable players around. He always plays. In 17 years, he’s never played fewer than 60 games. In 13 of those seasons, he played at least 74 games — including each of the last five seasons. And he’s topped 80 games three times.
Throughout his career he’s continued to put up big numbers. I expect he’ll do that here, too. Relatively-speaking, because I’m guessing he won’t be a full-time starter for the first time ever. But he has shown pretty much no erosion in how he scores the ball, gets to his spots, breaks down individual defenders, etc. Because of that, my expection is he’ll lead the Nuggets in bench scoring.
Question #2: When he is on the court, will the offense be spaced well enough to run the right way?
Probably not. DeRozan can hit a 3-pointer, but that’s not the stength of his game. He’s only made 35 percent of his 3-pointers in a season once. He is a midrange and at-the-rim scorer. Every team he’s played on experiences a huge jump in their midrange scoring when he is on the team.
That does mean defenses will pack it in on the Nuggets offense a bit when he is on the court, so it will be important to have ample shooting around him to keep defenses honest. I would say you’d have to have at least three other big-time shooters on the court when DeRozan is on the court to have space for everyone to operate.
Question #3: Should he always be on the court in clutch time?
Yes, without question. Nuggets fans might remember DeRozan hitting a clutch-time jump shot, plus a foul, in Sacramento’s win over the Nuggets in Denver last season. He’s been doing it his entire career, and would give the Nuggets a deadly player to have to deal with when games are tight.
Add him to a lineup that has Jokic, Murray and Aaron Gordon when you need a big shot, and the Nuggets have a chance to be one of the best clutch-time teams in the league.
Question #4 Does this save the summer?
I wouldn’t go that far. This is a calculated swing. An older star on a 1-year deal that could be a smash success, or turn out not what you wanted it to be. The biggest win would have been to add DeRozan AND keep Peyton Watson. It didn’t turn out that way.
Question #5: Are the Nuggets squarely back on the shortlist of teams that are bonafide NBA title contenders?
So, by the odds, the Nuggets were never that far off anyway. Fanduel has them with the 8th-best odds to win the title. DraftKings has similar odds. Did they do enough to put themselves exactly alongside Oklahoma City and San Antonio and New York and Philadelphia? I’d have to say probably not, just on paper. But this is why they play the games, and the Nuggets have two of the best ever to do it in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.