Monday night, the San Antonio Spurs lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 140-126. The San Antonio Spurs are currently 8-8 on the season and are in 11th place in the Western Conference.
The Spurs started a new era after trading Kawhi Leonard during the summer. San Antonio traded Leonard and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 first-round pick.
New Face for the San Antonio Spurs
After the trade, it remained unknown how the Spurs would enter the 2018-19 season. Needless to say, DeRozan has fit in relatively well in the Alamo city. Leonard may have been drafted by the Spurs and groomed by head coach Gregg Popovich, but DeRozan can help this team win.
Despite the loss of a franchise player in Leonard, the Spurs will benefit down the road because of the fact that they will have DeRozan under contract until the summer of 2021, not to mention in the last three seasons, the Spurs' new shooting guard has played a combined 232 regular season games.
Any San Antonio team that is coached by Popovich has a chance to win and ultimately make the playoffs. Currently, San Antonio is out of the playoff picture but they still have plenty of time to change things.
DeRozan has played all 16 games this season with the Spurs and has taken on the leadership role. As the 2018-19 season continues to unfold there are three major takeaways from DeRozan's first 16 games with the Spurs.
3. Scoring Production
The former Toronto Raptor has played all 16 games with the team this season. One major takeaway from the first 16 games is his points per game total. DeRozan is leading the San Antonio Spurs in scoring, averaging 24.9 points per game.
Losing Leonard was a hard pill to swallow, however, DeRozan is currently averaging more than the former Spur. Not to mention, he averaged more points than Leonard in the last two seasons. Obviously, the Spurs lost one of the best two-way players in the game, but they will be in good hands from the offensive side. DeRozan will be able to help this Spurs team with the mid-range game.
This year, the 29-year-old has benefited from Popovich's offense. Last year, the shooting guard had to share the ball with Kyle Lowry. Lowry has the ability to be a pass-first point-guard but at times struggles to make his teammates better.
Being in San Antonio allows DeRozan to get involved and play in a system where the ball is constantly moving. Right now, he is shooting 17.9 percent from three (which is alarming), but as the season continues he will improve his shooting percentage as he gets more comfortable.
At this point in the season, the San Antonio Spurs' shooting guard is fitting in just fine and he has no problem scoring. Often times, teams struggle with scoring easy points. At this juncture, DeRozan is shooting 73.2 percent from two-point range, which is huge.
Although the 2009 pick has only played 16 games with his new team, he is clearly going to be a force on the offensive side. The fact that he does not focus on 3-pointers alone indicates that he will take high percentage shots.
2. Remaining Aggressive While Getting Teammates Involved
Unlike like Leonard, DeRozan has been able to make his mark on offense without scoring. The USC product is currently averaging 6.4 assists per game. While Leonard was in town, he was often criticized for his lack of aggression.
On the other hand, DeRozan has the ability to get his teammates involved when necessary while remaining aggressive on the scoring end. While playing in Toronto, he often clashed with Lowry who ran the offense. Lowry struggled to remain consistent toward the end of the season or in close game situations.
Leonard averaged 2.3 assists per game last season in nine games. In the 2016-17 season, he averaged 3.5 assists per game over the course of 74 games. Even though it's still early in the season, it is safe to say that DeRozan has more of a knack for getting his teammates involved and that the Spurs' system is more beneficial.
Over the years, Popovich has always had a big three or duo to carry the scoring load. After Tim Duncan retired, it seemed as if Leonard would be the savior of the franchise. However, things changed after a disagreement on an injured right quad.
Nonetheless, it's clear that this is DeRozan's team and he is up to the challenge of leading it after being shipped off by Toronto. This season he has found his Robin in LaMarcus Aldridge, who has continued to play solid basketball for the franchise.
If DeRozan and Aldridge can consistently run the pick-and-roll, they can set up other players on the wing to hit open threes.
1. Room for Improvement from Three
At first sight, some may be disappointed in DeRozan's 3-point percentage considering the fact that the NBA is a 3-point league. Sixteen games in he is shooting a disappointing 17.9 percent off of 1.8 attempts per game. On the bright side, the team is shooting 38.3 percent from three.
As the season goes on, expect the 6-foot-7 guard to heat up from deep. Last season he shot 31.0 percent from deep, which isn't great. But the key is for the San Antonio Spurs' guard to attempt more in open space. Last season in Toronto, the team lacked floor spacing at times when it came to the starting lineup with two ball-dominant guards.
The current roster for this team will allow DeRozan to settle in with the team and find open space to convert from deep. One factor that plays into his low 3-point percentage is the fact that he attempts less than two a game.
In order to improve his long distance shooting, the 2009 draft pick has to take more open shots. As long as he continues to remain aggressive in the post and from mid-range, the third level will open up.
San Antonio is in safe hands with their new franchise player. The San Antonio Spurs can make the Western Conference Playoffs but they will need to gel as a team.
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