NBA Season 2021-22

[Roy H.]

StatMuse: DeMar DeRozan is putting up the most points (27.9) by any guard averaging less than two 3-pointers a game since Michael Jordan.

[tazzmaniac]

StatMuse: DeMar DeRozan is putting up the most points (27.9) by any guard averaging less than two 3-pointers a game since Michael Jordan.

Is he a guard?  ESPN shows him as a SF and NBA.com calls him a Guard-Forward.

[Moranis]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

[footey]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

You will see a lot of times teams start with 3 guard lineups.  That positional percentage breakdown is meaningless.  Put it this way, he plays more like a two guard or small forward than a power forward.  Kind of like Jaylen Brown, who is similarly sized. 

[Roy H.]

StatMuse: DeMar DeRozan is putting up the most points (27.9) by any guard averaging less than two 3-pointers a game since Michael Jordan.

Is he a guard?  ESPN shows him as a SF and NBA.com calls him a Guard-Forward.

Good point.  I wonder how many SFs have put up that many points without 3PT shooting in the same time period.

I certainly don't consider him a PF or C, regardless of what BBR says.

[Vermont Green]

StatMuse: DeMar DeRozan is putting up the most points (27.9) by any guard averaging less than two 3-pointers a game since Michael Jordan.

Is he a guard?  ESPN shows him as a SF and NBA.com calls him a Guard-Forward.

Good point.  I wonder how many SFs have put up that many points without 3PT shooting in the same time period.

I certainly don't consider him a PF or C, regardless of what BBR says.

I think you can distinguish between guards and wings.  To me, PGs and combo Guards are guards, SGs and SFs are wings.  Smart is a guard, Brown is a wing.  DeRozan is a wing.  I am not sure it matters if he is a guard-wing or a forward-wing, at least not to the discussion about 3pt shooting.

But the main point is that here is a very impactful, very successful wing that is not a highly effective 3pt shooter.  It goes against "conventional wisdom".   I think Celtics fans worry too much about the team's 3pt shooting.  The 3pt is a great weapon, it is not the end all.  DeRozan was probably undervalued some because of that.

[Goldstar88]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

So when DeRozan was playing in Toronto with Kawhi and Siakam the year they won the championship, was he playing SF and Kawhi was the SG? Pretty sure DeMar can play both the 2 or the 3 when needed.

[Moranis]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

You will see a lot of times teams start with 3 guard lineups.  That positional percentage breakdown is meaningless.  Put it this way, he plays more like a two guard or small forward than a power forward.  Kind of like Jaylen Brown, who is similarly sized.

but he is guarding PF's and playing more on the interior.  He was the 2nd biggest starter for the Bulls and was so, by a wide margin.  He isn't a guard.  He wasn't a guard in San Antonio either as last year they were starting Murray, Johnson, and White/Walker.  So he was basically the starting PF for the Spurs last year as well (Poeltl/Aldridge were the starting centers).  The year before that the Spurs started Murry and Forbes (White also got a bunch of starts), so he was a SF or PF that season.  His first season in S.A. Forbes and White were the starting backcourt with DeRozan at SF.  DeRozan hasn't been a guard since he played in Toronto in the 17-18 season. 

[Moranis]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

So when DeRozan was playing in Toronto with Kawhi and Siakam the year they won the championship, was he playing SF and Kawhi was the SG? Pretty sure DeMar can play both the 2 or the 3 when needed.

DeRozan was traded for Kawhi.  He has never won a title.  The year before he was the Raptors SG, but that is the last time he played guard in the NBA.  As my prior post indicated in San Antonio he started out as a SF and moved over to PF and he is the PF for the Bulls and has been all year. 

[Roy H.]

But the main point is that here is a very impactful, very successful wing that is not a highly effective 3pt shooter.

Yes.  This is right.  The only players that you expect to put up huge numbers without a 3PT shot in this era -- and even 20 years ago -- are big men.  That's not DeRozan.

The guy is having an incredible year that I don't think anybody expected, and as you note, he's do it in defiance of conventional wisdom.

[Moranis]

See if he holds it, Wade had multiple seasons above 27 ppg and less than 2 3 point attempts a game.  He is an actual guard.  Giannis had a season of 26.9 ppg and under 2 3 attempts. 

The simple reality is though that very few people score 27.9 ppg in a season.  Some years no one does it, but the most in any season is I think 6 (a few times that has happened).  There just aren't many people that do it, which is really the impressive thing, not how they get there, but just getting there at all.

[Goldstar88]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

You will see a lot of times teams start with 3 guard lineups.  That positional percentage breakdown is meaningless.  Put it this way, he plays more like a two guard or small forward than a power forward.  Kind of like Jaylen Brown, who is similarly sized.

but he is guarding PF's and playing more on the interior.  He was the 2nd biggest starter for the Bulls and was so, by a wide margin.  He isn't a guard.  He wasn't a guard in San Antonio either as last year they were starting Murray, Johnson, and White/Walker.  So he was basically the starting PF for the Spurs last year as well (Poeltl/Aldridge were the starting centers).  The year before that the Spurs started Murry and Forbes (White also got a bunch of starts), so he was a SF or PF that season.  His first season in S.A. Forbes and White were the starting backcourt with DeRozan at SF.  DeRozan hasn't been a guard since he played in Toronto in the 17-18 season.

Sure, but let’s not make it sound like he can’t or has not played the 2, because he 100% has and was successful at it while in Toronto.

Do you view JB as a SG or a SF?

[celticsclay]

DeRozan is not a guard unless you think Ball or LaVine is a forward.  And with the injuries Caruso and Green have also been starting.  Yesterday, they started White, Dosunmu, and Green with all the guys out, so DeRozan basically started at PF.  bball-ref says he has played 6% at SF, 84% at PF, and 10% at C.  No guard minutes at all on the season.  In other words, DeRozan is as much a NBA guard as I am.

So when DeRozan was playing in Toronto with Kawhi and Siakam the year they won the championship, was he playing SF and Kawhi was the SG? Pretty sure DeMar can play both the 2 or the 3 when needed.

He never played with those guys or won a championship. He was traded for Leonard.

[Celtics2021]

StatMuse: DeMar DeRozan is putting up the most points (27.9) by any guard averaging less than two 3-pointers a game since Michael Jordan.

Is he a guard?  ESPN shows him as a SF and NBA.com calls him a Guard-Forward.

I think the more apt question is would Jordan be a guard in the modern NBA?

[Goldstar88]

Kevin Durant the one pulling the trigger on James Harden trade?

By Thursday morning, Durant dialed Nets general manager Sean Marks, sources said. While Durant had initially resisted swapping Harden for Simmons, Harden had finally forced his hand. Brooklyn’s spiral of losses and Harden’s freelancing behavior created an untenable situation. “Kevin’s the one that pulled the trigger with this,” another source with knowledge of the situation said. “Kevin’s the one that said, ‘Do this deal.’ There was growing concern that this entire season would be lost and then they’d lose James for nothing.” – via Jake Fischer @ Bleacher Report