DeMar DeRozan came into the league after one year at USC. There, he averaged 1.5 assists, and virtually never posted up. He shot a whopping 17% from three and 65% from the line. Through his career in Toronto, where he became the Raptors’ all-time leading scorer, he was the epitome of bucket-getting shooting guard.
After being traded smack in the middle of his prime at age 28, he’s now the starting power forward on a Western Conference playoff team. A team with a better record than the Raptors.
He’s thriving in this new role, two positions up from where he made multiple All-NBA teams. Hats off to Gregg Popovich, because what DeRozan is doing at this position defies all precedent.
After 820 games and 31 years playing wing, DeRozan became the Spurs’ starting power forward this year. This allows them to roll with a starting lineup of Dejounte Murray-Lonnie Walker IV-Keldon Johnson-DeRozan-Jakob Poeltl. Last year, Trey Lyles was in the power forward slot, with DDR sliding down to take Keldon’s position. LaMarcus Aldridge was where Jakob “one of the best defenders alive, look it up” Poeltl is now. Jakob and Keldon’s emergence this year has opened up everything for San Antonio by giving them big versatility and a competent wing to take pressure off of DeRozan.
All three guys and the team are arriving. Trey Lyles and Aldridge was a clunky frontcourt because it lacked mobility, spacing, and playmaking ability. Both dudes were pretty tethered to the basket. Because the NBA has slid away from burly, traditional bigs, the levee has been busted open for two guard + two wing lineups, replacing the old way of one guard/wing, two of the opposite + two bigs. The Spurs, a quarter-century of dominance behind them, couldn’t be more optimized to play this new way. DeRozan, often called a dinosaur for his mid-range aptitude, boasts a skill set that is literally cutting edge.
While often simplified and conflated, the modern power forward is not as simple as “a stretch 4.” That’s reductive, because the modern power forward isn’t - and teams don’t need - tall guys that shoot threes. A more accurate description for the modern power forward can be one that is simply not a traditional power forward. Because the traditional power forward is just a slightly smaller center with a 16 foot jumper.
No, the modern power forward is DeRozan. The modern power forward is a player who classifies in the upper area size/strength/rebounding-wise for wing players, while still retaining typical wing abilities. These include competent passing ability, the ability to put the ball on the floor, enough speed to beat large defenders, and a jump shot that’s knockdown enough to beget closeouts/spacing. Couple those four things with the physicals to not get embarrassed in paint defense, and you’ve got five boxes that DeRozan emphatically checks. Size at 6’6” is his weakest of the five, but a build that includes good lower-body strength, adept hands, and intelligent rebounding ability helps make up for shortcomings.
Other players with comparable skillsets: Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Blake Griffin, Domantas Sabonis, Pascal Siakam, Julius Randle, John Collins, Draymond Green.
Having these skills out of your power forward opens up a tremendous amount for your offense. 15 or even 10 years ago, the player who secures the defensive rebound is immediately looking up only to pass, and only to one of two players: his point guard or his shooting guard. The 3-5 positions on the floor naturally are getting the most rebounds, so this action slows down your pace. When you get out onto the floor and into your offense quicker, you’re more likely to catch the other defense in transition, still setting up.
Today, almost every lineup features three players or more that can get the rebound and immediately initiate the offense. With a power forward like DeRozan, it’s four players. If you play a center like Nikola Jokic or Sabonis, it can be all five. This is where the basis of Russell Westbrook and James Harden’s rebounding comes from. Sure, stats are nice, but when your primary playmaker is in control faster and four guys instead of three break faster, you’re going to get better things from the opposing defense’s ensuing scramble.
Playmaking is the box that DeRozan, for all his scoring resume, is the most gifted in. One extra pass goes the longest on the low block. Defenses crash the hardest not on a Steph Curry three, but on an anyone-at-the-rim shot. We've seen this with every player I listed above. Power forwards' assist numbers increasing always coincides with them taking the next step. This year, that's Julius Randle and Domantas Sabonis. A couple years ago, Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin. It helped Giannis bring home two MVP trophies. It makes Draymond a Hall of Famer and one of the most unique players we've ever seen.
DeRozan is averaging a career-high in assists. His 7.3 assists are the most by any power forward in NBA history besides Draymond Green. Full stop. His 7.3 assists are 13th in the league, his turnovers are a career-low, and his 4.4 assist:turnover ratio is 3rd in the league; he and Chris Paul are the only members of the top 9 that aren’t backup point guards. His passer rating is 13th out of everybody. Ahead of LeBron James, Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, and a lot more of our favorites.
The guy with no touch, something they say you can’t teach, is less than 2 points shy of being a 90% free throw shooter. He’s on back-to-back seasons shooting career-bests from the floor. And he’s putting up 20 a night despite taking the least shots of his entire career (besides his rookie year’s 6.6). The Spurs are the best they’ve been since trading away Kawhi Leonard, and DeMar has gone from volume chucker to the ultimate team player.
The reason I believe this is here to stay is because it is hard to exploit. And that’s what sports are all about. If the Spurs are doing this to be successful, you’re going to win by stopping their success. So how would you punish a player that’s undersized? By going big. Most teams out there do not have a player that can stop all five skills listed above. You can punish his defense with a true inside scoring threat, sure, but those players tend to be burlier. Can that consistent punishment make up for DeRozan exposing that bigger guy on the perimeter? Or switching him onto a different Spur to slice and dice him? And then DeMar has a guard on him in the post.
Though he’s started just 31 games at power forward, DeRozan is 7th in the NBA on points per post-up possession among players taking as many as he is.
You can expose the rebounding deficit, yes, but committing that hard to crashing the glass leaves more transition opportunities open for San Antonio. And as the micro-ball Rockets demonstrated last year, rebounds are not purely a size contest. A rebound is inherently more likely to go to the defending team because they are closer to the basket. The tiny Rockets were 29th in rebounding percentage and 15th in the playoffs, meaning they were still better than the full-size Wizards and Pacers. So you, again, have to have something of a matchup nightmare to exploit DeRozan at power forward.
And this isn’t just about the Spurs, of course, and it isn’t just about size. DeRozan will not now win them the championship because he’s found a new position. He won’t be the first-team All-NBA power forward. But he is a microcosm of where the league is, and you best believe other teams are taking note. At 72 years old, Gregg Popovich is the oldest head coach in NBA history. And he has the most modern four in the sport.
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