DeMar DeRozan's first year with the San Antonio Spurs went about as well as you could expect.
Yes, the shooting guard put up decent counting numbers, but, as was the case during his time with the Toronto Raptors, his actual impact on the team was questionable.
Obviously, the fact that DeRozan was replacing the far superior player in Kawhi Leonard did not help his case, but even with that aside, DeRozan's struggles during his first season with the Spurs mirrored his problems during his nine-year tenure with the Raptors.
It's hard to expect DeRozan to improve much at this point, but here are three numbers for DeRozan to target in what will be his second season in San Antonio.
3. Seven Free-Throw Attempts Per Game
DeRozan averaged 5.7 free-throw attempts per game in his first year with the Spurs, and while that is good, it marked the first time he registered under seven foul shots a night since the 2012-13 campaign.
Because of his lack of a perimeter shot (more on that later), DeRozan makes his living off of slashing to the hoop and finishing around the rim and drawing fouls.
He did that to an extent last season, but not enough to compensate for his struggles from the perimeter.
The Spurs being a pass-happy team is also a thing of the past, as well, so we can't use that as an excuse for DeRozan's lack of foul shots. As a matter of fact, San Antonio ranked just 27th in the NBA in passes per game last year.
DeRozan simply needs to be more aggressive in getting to the rack.
2. Shoot 30 Percent from Three-Point Range
This is certainly not too much to ask, seeing as how DeRozan made 31.6 percent of his three-pointers on decent volume (3.6 attempts per game) during his final season in Toronto.
But in his first year with the Spurs? DeRozan made a paltry 15.6 percent of his triples and barely even attempted any, taking just 45 treys throughout the year (he took 287 in 2017-18).
Now, I am fully aware of the fact that DeRozan is not a good long-range shooter (career 28.3 percent shooter from deep), so I am not advocating for DeRozan to jack up threes.
What I am saying is that shooting under 20 percent from downtown is inexcusable and that he should be making at least 30 percent of his threes to keep defenses honest.
It's entirely possible that DeRozan's complete lack of three-point shooting last season was a big reason for his deep in free-throw attempts, as it made him much more defensible.
1. Have a Positive Net Rating
DeRozan had a minus-5.1 net rating last season, and throughout his entire 10-year NBA career, he has only posted a positive net rating once, which came back in 2011-12.
Look: there is a reason why DeRozan has a fairly poor reputation for not making teams better, because he doesn't, and there is actually evidence that he makes teams worse.
Now, am I saying the Spurs would definitely be better off without DeRozan? No, because context matters, but when you are a net negative in nine of your 10 seasons, something is wrong.
Of course, DeRozan's defensive deficiencies are a big reason for his negative impact, but his inability to space the floor and tendency to play hero ball are reasons, as well.
It's time for DeRozan to be a net positive.
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