DeMar DeRozan Is Rewriting the Definition of Superstar Efficiency

DENVER — In the waning moments of an NBA basketball game, with the score tied 102-102, in the year 2016, DeMar DeRozan calmly dribbled the ball down the court, one possession after he’d given his Toronto Raptors the lead on a 20-foot jumper.

The NBA’s leading scorer used a screen from fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry and forced the Denver Nuggets to switch Emmanuel Mudiay onto him. Backing the point guard down, he used every inch of his 6’7″ frame and 6’9″ wingspan to loft a turnaround jumper at the buzzer. 

The ball rattled in and out, bouncing around the rim, kissing off the backboard and falling harmlessly to the hardwood.

Overtime. 

The miss isn’t the point. After all, the Raptors still escaped with a 113-111 victory in this Nov. 18 affair. It’s the idea that a turnaround fadeaway jumper from 18 feet—a play that’s anathema to modern NBA analytics—was a sound decision. 

“That’s a good shot,” Kyle Lowry said after the game. “I think that’s a great possession for us. We get our best player, our best guy, our closer, the league’s leading scorer with the ball. An in-and-out fadeaway? I’ll take it every time.” 

If this was anyone else, the discussion would be different. But while the NBA trends away from mid-range jumpers in favor of increasing three-pointers and a constant assault on the painted area, DeRozan has made his living on those exact shots.

After Toronto’s Sunday night loss to the Sacramento Kings, the 2-guard was averaging 31.4 points per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 80.9 percent from the charity stripe. Earning statistical comparisons to historically great scorers such as Michael Jordan, he was on pace to become one of just 17 players in the NBA annals to average at least 30 points with a true shooting percentage north of 57. 

“He breaks the analytical mold when it comes to his type of scoring,” Toronto head coach Dwane Casey explained before the win in Denver.

In 2015-16, DeRozan was a solid mid-range player who relied on volume to put up gaudy point totals. This year, he’s emerging as the league’s most dangerous player from 10 to 16 feet—the “king of the mid-range,” as Nuggets head coach Mike Malone put it. 

Plenty goes into an improvement of that magnitude: confidence, improved form and a scheme designed to promote success, for example. 

But as Casey told Bleacher Report, an increase in strength has been key.

“I think strength has helped him a lot, being able to take the bumps,” …

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