San Antonio's First Domino: Should The Spurs Give DeMar DeRozan A Contract Extension?

[sananspursfan21]

As much as I actually like the guy, for the right deal it has to be done. My only knock on him is his turning 30. For his type of player, I don’t know if that bodes well

[CGD]

I’m liking the Nets for him, if their Irving/Durant dream crumbles. They can go the Tobias Harris and DeRozen route.

[Ocotillo]

Maybe one of those complicated three way trades where Indiana is involved signing and trading Bodganovic (or however you spell his name). That way we can get BB, Indiana can pick up some assets and the third team gets Derozan.

[mo7888]

Great write up. I look forward to your 'investigating the possibilities' piece..

[Wu36]

Sacrificial lamb. Maybe H-E-B will take him.

[Drom John]

1) People want to salary dump players like Belinelli and Bertans for $17.8M, but letting DeRozan walk would "be for nothing"? Wrong, letting DeRozan walk would give the Spurs two more more years of DeRozan followed by $27M in capspace. (I was in the keep Leonard camp last summer.)

2) DeRozan is a good player, but not a $27M player. Looking at ESPN Real Plus Minus Wins, DeRozan was a $14.72M player last year, less valuable than Rudy Gay, more valuable than Derrick White. I would offer a "continuity" extension to DeRozan of 110% of his value ($16M), spread out Richard Jefferson style (extend a year to $27M/$21.5M/$21.5M.)

[SpurSpike]

Statistically, I look at two areas when estimating whether a player is losing athleticism: field goal percentage on shots at the rim and free throw rate.

While DeRozan's finishing percentage at the rim was very good in his first season with the Spurs, there was a concerning crash in his free throw rate. He averaged only 5.9 free throw attempts per 100 possessions, his lowest number in six seasons. That rate represents a 20% drop from his previous season and a 34% drop from his peak season. Considering DeRozan doesn't have a perimeter game to fall back on, any sign of diminished ability to successfully attack the rim is cause for concern.

While that is fair, it seemed the refs had a strange tendency to swallow the whistle on DDR almost the whole season. This is probably also part of the reason he got so many technical fouls. That kind of stuff will make you really frustrated! Still it seemed like he wanted to rely on the refs too much and it wasn't working out for him... i hope he learns from last season and keeps his cool a bit better.

I remember reading an article about Damian Lillard having a mental coach to help keep his cool under pressure, i think DDR could really benefit from some similar mental coaching tbh.

[tbdog]

Not true.

The complexion of the market for LA was murky at best after coming off two down years, and a bad playoff series. Not only that, but him being on the other side of 30 didn't help.

His archiac style & skillset also lessened his value.

I would have imagined his agent did his job and sought out his market when giving him advice on the situation.

At the end of the day, LMA didnt necessarily take less considering the reality of his situation. He took the safe & fair route to secure great money.

Spurs only did it bc they saw what other teams could not that summer. That is the commitment he finally showed and the weight he finally lost.

I disagree. Players like Ibaka 3 years 65 mil, Griffin 5 years 173mil, milsap 3 year 90mil. LMA extension was 3 years 72mil, which he signed in October, only a few months after those names.

Even if we agree on your analysis, you don't think DD extension of a similar number to lma's would be fair, safe money due to his style and skillset which has lessened his value and being on the other side of 30?

[Dverde]

PATFO don’t have the balls to trade DDR. It would hurt his feelings. Maybe if he requested a trade, but I don’t see that happening.

[BatManu20]

Wiggins’ ass is more worthless than DD.

Amd he’s got 4 more years of guaranteed Max money... big no thank you.

[Strategic]

Concerned of extending DD now because of a cold feet reaction to the KL saga. Screw that! Spurs are in a good spot with DD considering his age and per par learning curve to the Spurs system, and he’s not really breaking the bank yet. Stay the course and give the youth another year to improve, thus finding out if one or more of the kids looks like a future borderline all star. I think he was damn fortunate to get traded to the Spurs. The youth core is good enough for him to succeed if he’s able to lead. One more year will tell the tale.

[acoelho1]

Isn't the wise thing to do is see how Keldon Johnson Developes?

They are playing the same position so lets see how he responds to "the program". I'd imagine that after a year in Austin and on the regular team you'd know if what his ceiling and floor is.

If his limit is DDR with better 3 and D isn't a no brainer what the spurs should do? (RC and Pop take DDR "fishing" on a deep lake) Can't all this wait till next summer?

The problem with waiting is DDR can opt out after next year and if it's already been decided that we don't plan to extend him, he could walk for nothing next summer. Also, there will be teams losing out on the big free agents so perhaps we can get some quality return if traded this summer.

[RD2191]

DD and LMA are both career losers and chokers. Idgaf what they bring to the table if they can't get it done when it matters. Both can gtfo.

[Rummpd]

agree 100% this team needs a youth movement and unless DDR takes a huge pay cut has not proven worth near max money

[Dex]

Personally, I don't want to see DeMar extended. Not this summer, anyways.

After a year of watching him, I think we all can acknowledge the knocks on his game. Yes, he is very talented...he is an All-Star and All-NBA player, after all. But his stats seem mostly empty, and the team as a whole seems to perform better without him. He also has a tendency to shy away or get overwhelmed when the pressure comes on (aside from his couple of game-winners early in the season).

It would be a bad move for this team to hamstring their future solely for the fact of saving face in the shadow of the Kawhi trade. He hasn't done enough for the Spurs to earn anything close to a max extension. Give him one more season, see how he performs...and then we can talk extension, or let him walk and take the cap space.

That said...I do worry about "culture" being a double-edged sword here. I have a sinking feeling that the Spurs are going to offer him some type of extension due to his chemistry with the team, the cir stances he was brought in, and PATFO wanting to do "the right thing". I really hope I am wrong.

[look_at_g_shred]

Just trade him for whatever you can get. A future 1st and i'm happy.

[Big P]

I pray they don't extend him, but knowing the fo, I'm afraid they will.

[tenbeersbold]

While that is fair, it seemed the refs had a strange tendency to swallow the whistle on DDR almost the whole season. This is probably also part of the reason he got so many technical fouls. That kind of stuff will make you really frustrated! Still it seemed like he wanted to rely on the refs too much and it wasn't working out for him... i hope he learns from last season and keeps his cool a bit better.

I remember reading an article about Damian Lillard having a mental coach to help keep his cool under pressure, i think DDR could really benefit from some similar mental coaching tbh.

Yup DDR got the Spurs treatment from the refs for sure last season
He was getting mauled out there

[DPG21920]

Don’t think he’s extended but trading him just to trade him is not the best option. I won’t be super pissed if SA just dumps him, but I dont see any reason to do that and it’s not likely.

This season can still be a successful playoff season and unless you get something appealing (vs ONLY cap space next year) then just keep him and go as far as you can.

But as many have mentioned, trades absolutely need to be on the table if you know you aren’t extending him since this is the only time you can likely get + value (to what degree, unknown)

[pgardn]

Really nice write up.

[Mugen]

Personally, I don't want to see DeMar extended. Not this summer, anyways.

After a year of watching him, I think we all can acknowledge the knocks on his game. Yes, he is very talented...he is an All-Star and All-NBA player, after all. But his stats seem mostly empty, and the team as a whole seems to perform better without him. He also has a tendency to shy away or get overwhelmed when the pressure comes on (aside from his couple of game-winners early in the season).

It would be a bad move for this team to hamstring their future solely for the fact of saving face in the shadow of the Kawhi trade. He hasn't done enough for the Spurs to earn anything close to a max extension. Give him one more season, see how he performs...and then we can talk extension, or let him walk and take the cap space.

That said...I do worry about "culture" being a double-edged sword here. I have a sinking feeling that the Spurs are going to offer him some type of extension due to his chemistry with the team, the cir stances he was brought in, and PATFO wanting to do "the right thing". I really hope I am wrong.

It's coming, Dex. We both know it. The only way out is if Derozan signs off on a trade and FO finds a trade partner that he can live with. That way, the org offloads him without looking like the bad guy again.

They're obviously shook. They've been shook since the Nephew debacle. I don't think Pop/RC can take another reputation hit if they trade Derozan and he starts mouthing off at them like he did towards Masai.

[JeffDuncan]

The main problem with DDR is that he is only worth about half his contract price, as Drom John pointed out, above.

Extend him? Certainly not this summer. Preferably, never. He is not worth the money.

The Spurs really, seriously, need to stop overpaying for players. That profligate spending is hurting the team, badly.

[phxspurfan]

And, let's remember, there is precedence. Once upon a time, Derek Anderson was a similar player to DeRozan with similar standing in the league. Instead of overpaying a player who didn't do much to impact winning but could certainly produce numbers, the Spurs artfully dodged the bullet that was his eventual payday

Derek Anderson was exactly what we needed during the time he was here, before Juwan Howard took him out (still hate Juwan Howard for that). Also, the NBA was in a vastly different era back then, when volume scoring wings (cough MJ cough) were super important, regardless of if they could shoot 3s or defend. Now it seems the NBA will move back toward mobile bigs and passing, and less reliant on chucking endless 3s. It may be a nice middle ground from the past few years of endless chucking and Harden-esque ref gaming.

I digress, please offer DeRozan an extension as I still need 4 more years out of my new Spurs jersey. Thanks

[Genovaswitness]

Derek Anderson was exactly what we needed during the time he was here, before Juwan Howard took him out (still hate Juwan Howard for that). Also, the NBA was in a vastly different era back then, when volume scoring wings (cough MJ cough) were super important, regardless of if they could shoot 3s or defend. Now it seems the NBA will move back toward mobile bigs and passing, and less reliant on chucking endless 3s. It may be a nice middle ground from the past few years of endless chucking and Harden-esque ref gaming.

I digress, please offer DeRozan an extension as I still need 4 more years out of my new Spurs jersey. Thanks

what on earth possessed you to spend money on a derozan jersey

[illusioNtEk]

we should just trade off lma and DeRozan while there value is high... we ain't doing with these 2 anyways..
. Let's just rebuild and get high picks for 1 or 2 years.. then we go for a max player later along with solid role players