Expecting a season, I didn't expect that you would still be the familiar Demar DeRozan.
Over the past few summers, DeRozan has arguably been the most frustrated player in the league:
In 2018, DeRozan, who was supposed to end up in Toronto, was suddenly abandoned, and more dramatically, in the first season after he left, Leonard led the team to win the first championship in team history, which inevitably made people doubt DeRozan's ability to lead the team;
In the next 3 years, DeRozan worked as a horse in the Holy City, in addition to the center, the other 4 positions have all played, although there are many adaptations, but with excellent experience and mature technology, DeRozan has also carried over, the average score per game has always been stable at 20+, but even so, the Spurs are still not satisfied with his play, and have always hesitated on the issue of contract extension;
Last summer, although everyone knew that DeRozan's departure from the Spurs was a foregone conclusion, in the trading market, few teams expressed interest in DeRozan, and in this way, DeRozan, who broke the career assist record, could only be signed to the Bulls, and the contract extension was only $82 million for 3 years;
However, just when everyone thought that DeRozan had accepted the fact that he had fallen out of the first-tier star ranks, he used a strong play to bring himself back to the All-Star starter, averaging 27.9 points per game, setting a new career scoring high, 10 consecutive games 30+, which is also a career record, and most importantly, DeRozan's performance at key moments, averaging 4.1 points per game, second only to Morant and Embiid, the shooting rate can reach 53.5%, higher than the season average of 50.4%.
Under DeRozan's leadership, the Bulls also went from a rebuilding team to an Eastern Conference playoff-level team with a 56.1 percent win rate.
But who would have thought that after entering the playoffs, the familiar DeRozan came back, and in the first game, he shot 6 of 25, 2 of 0 from three-point range, only scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, 6 shots in the last quarter, only shot 1 goal, insisted on the entire Bulls, and finally lost a defeat. After the game, although DeRozan took full responsibility, he still could not get the understanding of the fans, yes, since leading the Raptors to compete for the championship in 14 years, DeRozan has had too many disappointing moments.
According to statistics, in the past 8 years, DeRozan has experienced a total of 9 life-and-death battles (winning and promoting, losing and losing), including last year's play-offs, but he has only won 2 of them, with a winning rate of only 22.2%, and in these games, DeRozan's performance can only be described as "bad".
For example, in the seven-year grab with the Nets in 14 years, DeRozan shot 5-of-12, scoring 18 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists;
In a 7-of-21 shooting with the Nuggets, DeRozan shot 7-of-21 and had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
In the 21-year playoff against the Grizzlies, DeRozan shot 5-of-21 and had 20 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
9 life and death battles, averaging 20.4 points per game, shooting only 38.8%, a total of 11 shots outside the three-point line, only 1 goal, this kind of key moment performance, it is indeed difficult to become a good leader, so in terms of leading the team, DeRozan's team has always been difficult to have too much breakthrough, if not, Ujerry will not gamble on his future to trade him, the Spurs will also give up the core of the renewal team in such a difficult situation, other teams will not miss to strengthen an average of 20+ per game Chances of scorers.
There is also a set of data that is very glaring, that is, DeRozan's role in the playoffs has always been much lower than that of the regular season.
In the 15-16 season, in the regular season, when DeRozan is present, the team can net 3.1 points per 100 rounds, and in the playoffs, when DeRozan is present, the team has a net loss of 6.5 points per 100 rounds;
The same was true in the '16-17 season, with a 2.9-point net win in the regular season and an 8.9 net loss in the playoffs;
In the 17-18 season, the regular season net win was 7.5 points, and the playoff net loss was 9.4 points;
In the 18-19 season, despite joining the Spurs, the problem remained unresolved, with a net win of 0.5 points in the regular season and a net loss of 7.9 points in the playoffs;
The reason for this situation is related to DeRozan's style of play, although his scoring means are rich, but most of them are concentrated in the three-point line, but also biased to shoot, not to mention the efficiency, but also very eat the lineup configuration, in addition, DeRozan is also addicted to singles, organizational ability in general, don't look at the past few seasons, assists are many, but many are passive passes under offensive disadvantages, not Harden, Paul, this kind of targeted to dismember the opponent's defensive strategy of the organization.
Frankly speaking, DeRozan can only be called a good scorer, can not be the core, can not play the role of leader, expect him to turn the tide, it is too difficult.