DeMar DeRozan keeps surfacing in the same conversation with the Boston Celtics, and this time the logic is tied directly to Jaylen Brown.
Two weeks after Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale listed Boston among the better landing spots for the six-time All-Star, another Bleacher Report writer pushed the Celtics all the way to the top. Grant Hughes ranked Boston first, with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers right behind it.
His reasoning centers on the kind of shot-making DeRozan has built his career on. “A poor defender and a reluctant three-point shooter throughout his long career, DeRozan remains a specialist in the self-created two-point jumper,” wrote Hughes. “Last year, a whopping 73 percent of DeRozan's shots came in the mid-range area, and he made half of them.
“Brown's penchant for those same shots had a lot to do with his low approval rating among the analytically inclined, but those are often the only available looks in a playoff scenario. Brown could take and make 'bad' shots, and so can DeRozan. He could fit right into the middle of Boston's attack, which otherwise swings the ball around the perimeter hunting for threes.”
That midrange profile is exactly what has made DeRozan such a consistent scorer for so long. The 37-year-old has averaged 21.1 points per game over his career while shooting 47.1 percent from the field. His production dipped last season, but he still put up 18.4 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting.
And while DeRozan has never been a volume 3-point shooter, he has remained one of the league’s most reliable scorers from the middle of the floor. Only five players made more midrange shots than Brown last season, and DeRozan was one of them. He has led the league in that category in four of the last five seasons.
Still, the fit in Boston is not as simple as plugging in another scorer and calling it a day. DeRozan’s defense has long been a concern, and Joe Mazzulla’s system puts a heavy premium on 3-point shooting. He would bring scoring and playmaking, but pairing him with Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the rest of the roster would not be seamless.
A bench role could make the idea more workable, though it is unclear whether DeRozan would be open to coming off the bench as a sixth man.
And the Celtics would not be alone if they decided to make a run at him. After trading Peyton Watson, the Denver Nuggets have “ their eyes directed” toward DeRozan, who reportedly “remains a free agent in demand for contenders.”
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