Which Raptor would survive a zombie apocalypse? Who has the most impressive autograph collection? Did Luis Scola get emotional at the end of Fast & Furious 7? (Hint: hell yes). Why is Terrence Ross singing Alice Cooper? Every day until the season starts, a new player steps in front of the lens and answers the tough questions so you can get to know your Toronto Raptors. Up next, Batman has nothing on DeMar DeRozan.
|Know Your Raptors: Jonas Valanciunas|Terrence Ross| DeMar DeRozan| Norm Powell| Patrick Patterson| Anthony Bennett|
Needless to say, there’s a lot on the line for DeMar DeRozan in 2015-16.
The 26 year-old is one of eight returning Raptors looking to rebound from their spectacular playoff wipeout against the Washington Wizards, but as one of his teams’ go-to-stars the onus is on DeRozan to prove that the sweep wasn’t a permanent step in the wrong direction. And that he can be relied upon to help lift franchise past the first or second round.
It’s a lot of pressure, for any player. Of course, fact remains that DeRozan is set for a massive payday at seasons end, regardless of how any of that plays out. The seven-year starter is expected to opt out of his contract and enter free agency this summer.
As much as his heart is in Toronto, there’ll be plenty of bidders for his services. After all, it’s easy to lose sight of this when you watch him play night after night and begin dwelling on the areas for improvement and forget why teams around the NBA will be coughing up max money to put their jersey on him, but DeRozan is good. Like, really good. You can count the number of 26-and-under players in the league who have a real shot at averaging 25 points per game on one hand. DeRozan is one of those players. His game is a matchup nightmare (arguably no other backcourt player in the league equips a mid-range post-up game like his), he is truly elite when it comes to getting to the foul line, and he had shown improvement every season.
Until last year, where his scoring dipped by two points to 20 per game and he suffered the first long-term injury of his lifetime. He was sidelined for nearly two months, and was hit or miss upon his return. The highlight (perhaps of his career) was a 42-point outburst against the Houston Rockets, a three-point win in which DeRozan outduelled friend and MVP candidate James Harden. That is the potential teams will salivate over in the free-agent market.
And regardless of how his future plays out, it all bodes well for the Raptors this season. With plenty of incentive personally and from a team-perspective expect a strong campaign from DeRozan. It’s not like he doesn’t have anything to play for.
This time last season DeRozan was fresh off his first All-Star campaign and seemed poised to take the reigns of the Raptors and build off his career year. Now, he’ll have every opportunity to be the top dog again in Toronto, but as the preseason wore on you couldn’t help but get the feeling that Kyle Lowry had officially usurped the longest-tenured Raptor for that spot on the food chain.
But it might not last.
For DeRozan, the shots will be there. And while they may not have fallen during exhibition play, don’t expect Dwane Casey to take the ball out of his best scorer’s hands any time soon.
2014-15 stats: 60 games played (all starts), 35 mpg/20.1 ppg/3.9 rpg/3.5 apg/1.2 spg/41.3% shooting (28.4% 3PT, 83.2% FT)
|Know Your Raptors: Jonas Valanciunas|Terrence Ross| DeMar DeRozan| Norm Powell| Patrick Patterson| Anthony Bennett|