DeMar DeRozan is truly a special player.
The Toronto Raptors guard is one of the best scorers in the league. But at the same time he receives a lot of criticism due to his one-dimensional style of play. He can score from many areas on the floor, but his three-point shot is non-existent. He must be one of the few guards who can score without having a reliable outside stroke, and that’s one of the things that make him so dangerous. But can he keep this up?
Let’s analyze DeRozan to see why not having a reliable three-point shot shouldn’t affect him. First of all, he’s never been a threat from the arc. Second, he has enough athleticism to drive to the rim against any defender. And to make things even better, he’s no stranger to making contact. After all, we’re talking about a guy who’s a career 82-percent shooter from the charity stripe.
Plenty of guys were successful with that style back in the day. So should DeRozan adapt and incorporate an outside shot to his game? Or will he force opposing defenses to adapt to his own scoring capacities? We think it’s definitively the latter, because so far he’s not showing any sign of trying to become a three-point threat.
The 27-year-old started the season on great shape, and currently leads The Association with 33.2 pts per game. He’s sitting ahead of players like James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
One of his best games came against the Detroit Pistons in the season opener, a game where he finished with 40 points:
But he’s also proven he can do it against top competition, as evidenced by his game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished with 37 points, six assists and four rebounds in that game:
DeRozan has been an All-Star in two of the past three seasons, and he’s certainly going to be part of the event this year as well. There aren’t many guys like him in the league; old-fashioned scorers who can thrive against any type of defender. And it’s not an exaggeration: opposing teams have tried to stop DeRozan with taller, smaller, faster, stronger and quicker players, but the results have been the same. Literally no one can stop him.
Sure, an outside shot would make him an even more dangerous player, but we know he doesn’t need one to be successful. He’s going to continue terrorizing opposing defenses with his own unique style of play.