New Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has a tall task in front of him: push his team deeper into the playoffs. He has two star players at his disposal in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan and a bench unit that was one of the best last season. The way the NBA is moving though, wing players and two-way players are becoming more and more pivotal offensively and defensively.
Given what Nurse said to Jim Rome, it appears he wants to turn DeRozan more into a two-way player. “We’re going to expand his game a little bit, continue to work that 3-point line a little bit more, continuing to work in setting up his teammates a little bit more, but we’re going to let him do his thing,” Nurse says to Rome. “He’s a bucket-maker. The biggest challenge for me is we’re going to challenge him on the defensive end, make him more of a two-way player.”
The Jim Rome Show: Nick Nurse on DeMar DeRozan from The Jim Rome Show on Vimeo.
Needless to say, Nurse has high hopes for DeRozan. Trying to turn the 6’7” shooting guard into a 3-point threat will be a challenge, given his history. DeRozan is a career 28.9 percent shooter from long range and only attempts around four shots from behind the arc.
In terms of defense, DeRozan is a perpetual work in progress. He has the height and length to defend well, but traditionally has struggled. He has a career 110 defensive rating (per 100 possessions) and mustered a 109 defensive rating last season. His 2.8 defensive win shares (a measure that determines the number of wins a player’s defense contributed to) was DeRozan’s highest since 2013-2014.
Make no mistake, DeMar DeRozan is an excellent player. He is a four-time All-Star who has averaged over 20 points per game for the last five seasons. Given that, the things Nurse is looking to implement go against what DeRozan has shown he is capable of. He is an excellent 2-point scorer who shot 49.3 percent from that range last season. On top of that, he had a career 55.5 true-shooting percentage last season too. Expanding his effective shooting range and defensive efficiency will be difficult, but Nick Nurse will give it a shot.
