DeMar DeRozan Is Playing Like a Hall-of-Famer in the Playoffs, But That's Not Good for the Raptors
Good players are rarely considered great if they flounder in the playoffs.
How many times have you heard that Kobe Bryant is better than LeBron James because of championship ring tallies?
While there's some merit to glorifying titles, we all know, deep down, they aren't the end-all measure of greatness. I mean, Adam Morrison has two NBA Championships for playing a combined 13 playoff minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Still, when your name comes up in the company of a Hall-of-Famer who has six NBA Championship rings and 13 All-Star appearances, you should probably be excited.
In DeMar DeRozan's case, though, you shouldn't be.
Hall of Shame
Through 11 playoff games this season, DeRozan has attempted 218 field goals.
Among 655 players who attempted at least 200 postseason field goal attempts in a singular postseason, his Effective Field Goal Percentage (which accounts for three-pointers being worth more than two-pointers) of 33.7% ranks seventh-worst. As in 649th out of 655.
His name, though, is right up there with some hall-of-famers.
| Player | Season | Age | Tm | Lg | FG | FGA | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Fulks | 1947-48 | 26 | PHW | BAA | 7.1 | 29.2 | 0.242 |
| Don Carlson | 1946-47 | 27 | CHS | BAA | 4.9 | 18.2 | 0.27 |
| Joe Fulks | 1946-47 | 25 | PHW | BAA | 7.4 | 25.7 | 0.288 |
| Bob Cousy | 1959-60 | 31 | BOS | NBA | 6.2 | 20.2 | 0.305 |
| Bob Cousy | 1956-57 | 28 | BOS | NBA | 6.7 | 20.7 | 0.324 |
| Bob Cousy | 1958-59 | 30 | BOS | NBA | 6.5 | 20.1 | 0.326 |
| DeMar DeRozan | 2015-16 | 26 | TOR | NBA | 6.5 | 19.8 | 0.337 |
| Bob Davies | 1950-51 | 31 | ROC | NBA | 5.6 | 16.7 | 0.338 |
| John Havlicek | 1964-65 | 24 | BOS | NBA | 7.3 | 20.8 | 0.352 |
| Bob Cousy | 1962-63 | 34 | BOS | NBA | 5.5 | 15.7 | 0.353 |
| Bob Cousy | 1961-62 | 33 | BOS | NBA | 6.1 | 17.2 | 0.357 |
| Woody Sauldsberry | 1960-61 | 26 | STL | NBA | 6.3 | 17.2 | 0.364 |
DeRozan is the only player with the "luxury" of the three-pointer in the bottom 12, but he's shot just 15.8% on 19 three-pointers this postseason. His raw field goal percentage of 33% still ranks seventh-worst in the 655-play subset.
He's hardly making shots from anywhere on the floor (obviously).
For comparison's sake, here's his shot chart from the regular season.
He's struggling mightily around the rim, which is usually his bread and butter.
Getting to the Line
Perhaps the biggest issue of all for DeRozan is his struggle from the free-throw line, both in getting there and converting.
He ranked sixth among guards in Free Throw Rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt) this season at .474. His 8.4 attempts per 36 minutes were second only to James Harden's 9.6.
In the playoffs, his Free Throw Rate is just .298, and he's converting just 73.8% of the time (compared to 85% in the regular season).
Things are off for DeRozan, but at least he's got Bob Cousy beat.
The Cooz, routinely and widely regarded as on of the best NBA point guards of all-time owned a career field goal percentage of 37.5%, quite easily the worst mark of the 63 players with 15,000 career field goal attempts. In the playoffs, he shot 34.2% on 2,016 attempts. He's the only player (of 36 to attempt 2,000 playoff field goals) with a mark worse than 40%.
At least you've got him beat, DeMar.
But you're going to need to turn things around if you want to chip away at the six NBA titles he's got.
Our algorithms give Toronto a 61.7% chance to defeat Miami and a 7.5% chance to win the Finals, better odds only than Miami.
