BY THOMAS HALL
According to NBA analysts, Demar Derozan is ranked exactly were he deserves to be.
“I thought the ranking was reasonably fair, Demar always comes in a little lower than people expect him to given his shooting ability and the fact that he was an All-Star and a All-NBA player last season,” said Scott Stinson, the Toronto Sun’s NBA writer.
F SI…#ProveEm
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) September 12, 2017
A year ago Derozan was ranked at 46 out of 100 of the league’s top players, but because of his performance last season he moved up 10 spots to now 36 out of 100.
“In a guy that isn’t necessarily the best player on the court at all times, it doesn’t surprise me Derozan was ranked this low behind some of the other players in the league,” said Stinson.
Sports Illustrated writers, Rob Mahoney and Ben Golliver created the rankings list and they discussed what parts of Derozan’s game kept him from being ranked higher than 36.
“Demar is one of the most complicated players that we have to rank, but with him in particular he’s a guy that is an impressive player but his own limitations hinder his team’s potential,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney further explains that Derozan isn’t the type of player that is going to carry the Raptors into the NBA championship.
“You can build a team around Derozan to a certain point that can be successful like we have seen, but me and Ben are a little skeptical that a team built around Derozan can go beyond the Eastern Conference Finals,” said Mahoney.
Golliver explains what he looks for to decide what ranking he should give a player.
“Our methodology is that we look at all the advanced stats, all the career achievements, the impact on offense and defense the player has, and we also look at the team success and what kind of the role the player has on his team, said Golliver.
Golliver tells me why Derozan made the jump from where he was ranked last year at 46 to now at 36 this year.
“Derozan did have a career year last year which played a factor in him rising up the rankings a little bit, but I don’t think it was a result of him making these major changes to his game, it was more of him leaping over some of the aging players that were ranked above him last year,” said Golliver.
Golliver lastly describes what it would take from Derozan to be ranked higher on the list.
“Me and Rob don’t view him as a plus defender, we don’t view him as a player-maker to his teammates, we don’t view him as a player who’s offensive talents translate into the playoff format. I think that if he were to add these skills he would make the Raptors a better playoff team but I don’t see Derozan making those changes at this point into his career,” said Golliver.
Mahoney also adds that if Derozan improved just this one area of his game it would make him such a better player overall.
“One thing we’re always looking for in Derozan is his three-point shooting ability. He’s a career 28% shooter from three, and he was at a 26.6% last season, which is a problem. That’s one area of his game were even if he was at the league average that could completely open up who he is as a player,” said Mahoney.
