30Q: How does DeMar DeRozan fit in?

It’s not exaggeration in the slightest to say that this summer’s acquisition of DeMar DeRozan was one of the biggest moves in Kings history.  The Sacramento Kings have never landed a player of DeRozan’s caliber in Free Agency before.  DeRozan is a six-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA member and one of the best scorers in NBA history (he ranks 31st in All-Time Points).  Yes, DeRozan is 35 years old and past his prime, but this is still a highly skilled player who is coming off a year in which he averaged 24 points, 5.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game, while leading the NBA in minutes played.

The Kings don’t need DeRozan to come in and try to lead the team in every single category like the Bulls did.  Sacramento already has two established stars in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, as well as a nice supporting cast including Malik Monk and Keegan Murray among others.  This Kings team is arguably the most talented team that DeRozan has been on since his first year in Chicago where he averaged a career-high 27.9 points and the Bulls finished 46-36 (and likely would have been higher if not for injuries to Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams).

DeRozan is replacing the outgoing Harrison Barnes, and could not be a more different style of player.  Barnes played almost exclusively off the ball for the Kings, and relied mostly on spot up three pointers and occasional post ups to get his points.  DeRozan is very much used to having the ball in his hands, and thrives as an isolation player attacking the rim and midrange.  DeRozan’s also a very willing passer, posting an assist rate over 20% for the last nine seasons; Barnes on the other hand has only had an assist rate over 10% twice in his entire career.

Much has been made of DeRozan’s outside shot or lack thereof, and there is merit in the fact that the Kings are losing one of their more consistent outside shooters in Barnes: Barnes hit 38.7% of his threes last season on nearly 6 attempts a game.  DeRozan meanwhile only shot about 3 a game, and made 33.3% of them.  But it’s not as if team’s can simply ignore DeRozan from outside, especially if they let him get space to get to his preferred shot in the midrange, where he is one of the best in a league that often sees the midrange as anathema to their analytic approach.

Over the last six seasons, over a quarter of DeRozan’s total shot attempts came from the 10-16 feet range.  During that time he’s made 47.6% of those shots (and 49% or better in all of the last three seasons), and most of those shots came in isolation from DeRozan creating his own offense.  On the Kings, the only players we’ve consistently seen as capable of creating for themselves have been De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk.  DeRozan adds another creator to the mix, both for himself and for others.  He also excels at attacking the rim and getting to the line, a skill the Kings sorely lack.  Last season, Fox led the Kings in free throw attempts with 5.7 a game; DeRozan averaged 7.7 a game and has averaged 7.4 attempts for the last 11 seasons.  More importantly, DeRozan is an excellent free throw shooter, making 84.1% of his attempts over his career, but also having several years recently where he shot over 87%.  The ability to slow a game down, get points with the clock stopped and calm the offense down is something the Kings have been missing, particularly in those games we’ve seen in the past few years where the Kings would blow big leads.  The Kings have been a team very reliant on outside shooting; DeRozan adds another dimension and hopefully a steadying effect as well.

DeRozan has also been one of the most clutch players in the league over the past couple of seasons.  DeRozan led the league in fourth quarter scoring last season while shooting 49% from the field, and the year before he finished 3rd.  In fact, the only player over the last two seasons to score more points in the fourth quarter than DeRozan is his new teammate, De’Aaron Fox.  Both those guys managed to excel when the games mattered most.  How will NBA teams react to trying to guard both of them at the same time in those situations now?  Late in games, you knew the ball was going to Fox, and maybe sometimes Monk.  Now the Kings will add DeRozan to the mix as well.  Mix in Domantas Sabonis’ passing abilities and the Kings have a ton of ways to create offense when they need to now.  The Kings got a personal taste of DeRozan’s clutch gene last season when he led a 4th quarter comeback against Sacramento where he outscored the Kings by himself 19-18 while not missing a single shot.

Defensively there are definite question marks.  DeRozan is smaller than Harrison Barnes, and he’s lost a lot of his athleticism from his younger days, but even then, DeRozan has never had a reputation as a defender.  The last time a team was better defensively when he was on the court rather than off of it was all the way back in the 2014-15 season with the Toronto Raptors.  However, I don’t think this is going to be as drastic of a difference from Harrison Barnes as some suspect.  Many outside pundits have decried Sacramento’s loss of Barnes by pointing to his defense, but Barnes hasn’t been a particularly good defender for a while now.  In fact, the only time the Kings were better defensively with Barnes on the court was in that first half season after the Kings traded for him.  Last season, the Kings were 5.3 points per 100 possessions worse defensively with Barnes on the court per basketball-reference.  DeRozan has also done a better job in the recent past at guarding the perimeter.  Last season, opponents shot just 34.4% from three when guarded by DeRozan, compared to 41.1% when guarded by Barnes.  This isn’t just one season we’re talking about either. If you look at the last four seasons alone, opponents have shot 39.2% from three against Harrison Barnes, compared to 35.4% against DeRozan.  Coincidentally the Kings have finished in the bottom five in the league in opponent three point percentage each of the last four seasons.  That’s not all on Barnes (the Kings have rarely been a good defensive team, and team defense is very important), but it’s not like the Kings should drop off a ton on that end of the court by replacing him with DeRozan.

But even among everything else, DeRozan should hopefully provide some much needed leadership.  Here’s a guy who is almost universally respected by his peers, who has been on bad teams and good teams and knows what it takes to win.  DeRozan has done a lot of media this summer while promoting his book, and I’ve been enthralled by his thoughtfulness and the depth to which he understands the game.  For instance, he credits his midrange game to studying Michael Jordan’s footwork, not from when he was in his prime, but rather from when he was playing with the Wizards and still scoring 20+ points a game as a near 40 year old, knowing that he didn’t have the athleticism he used to.  His championing of mental health and share of his own personal struggles is also to be lauded, and he just overall seems like a great guy to have on your team.

This should be a very fun season, and DeMar DeRozan should be a big part why.