Is the Hall of Fame within reach for Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan?
Ahead of a matchup with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2020-21 season, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had some high praise for DeMar DeRozan.
“He’s had an amazing career,” Kerr said. “I think he will be up for Hall of Fame consideration when all is said and done. He has just been so consistent for so long.”
Kerr’s right in that DeRozan has been “so consistent for so long.” (He’s averaged at least 20 points per game for eight straight seasons and counting, racking up a number of accolades along the way.) As for the other part, time will tell.
It’s always tricky to discuss a player’s Hall of Fame case when their career is still going on, but DeRozan is positioning himself to be in the discussion when he does decide to call it a day. He’s long been among the best players at his position and he helped turn the Toronto Raptors into one of the league’s most competitive teams.
In the years since, DeRozan has continued to add to his game, growing as a passer in San Antonio to playing some of the best basketball of his career now with the Chicago Bulls.
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DeMar DeRozan’s NBA resume
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The Raptors selected DeRozan with the No. 9 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
To this point of his career, DeRozan has earned four All-Star selections, one All-NBA Second Team selection and one All-NBA Third Team selection, each of which came as a member of the Raptors. The highest he has ever finished in MVP voting was eighth in 2017-18 when he averaged 23.0 points and 5.2 assists per game while leading the Raptors to a franchise-best 59 wins.
With close to 20,000 career points, DeRozan currently ranks 76th all-time in scoring and 10th among active players. He remains the Raptors’ all-time leader in games played, minutes played, field goals, free throws and points.
What are DeMar DeRozan’s Hall of Fame odds?
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Basketball-Reference has a calculator that spits out the odds of players being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Players receive points for appearing on leaderboards, receiving 10 points for leading the league in a category and 1 point for finishing 10th,” the site explains. “This seems like a fair way to award credit for both black and gray ink. The eligible statistical categories include PTS, TRB, AST, MP, STL, BLK.”
Based on Basketball Reference’s model, DeRozan has an 8.1 percent chance of making the Hall of Fame at this stage of his career, ranking him behind a total of 27 active players.
Some notable players ahead of him: Derrick Rose (11.9 percent), Draymond Green (36.2 percent), LaMarcus Aldridge (50.9 percent), Kyrie Irving (83.7 percent), Dwight Howard (99.7 percent) and LeBron James (100 percent).
It’s worth noting that Basketball Reference’s calculator only uses a player’s accomplishment in the NBA. For DeRozan, that means it doesn’t account for him winning gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and gold at the 2014 Spain World Cup. Ditto for what he achieved in college.
If it did, DeRozan’s odds would likely be higher.
What’s next for DeMar DeRozan?
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DeRozan was last named an All-Star in 2017-18, but he’s proving this season that he still has a lot left in the tank.
Through 19 games with the Bulls, DeRozan is averaging 25.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists, each of which are among the best numbers of his career. He’s shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from 3-point range.
Leading the Bulls to one of the best records in the Eastern Conference, DeRozan has worked his way onto early MVP ladders. If he continues to play at this level, he will have a chance of adding another All-Star and All-NBA selection to his resume, as well as a top-10 finish in MVP voting.
One thing that would boost DeRozan’s Hall of Fame case is more playoff success. Not that he hasn’t had any, but the Raptors came up shorter than expected in a couple of playoff runs and the Spurs lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round (seven games) in his only postseason appearance in San Antonio.
It’s early, but it’s looking like DeRozan and the Bulls might be able to make some noise in the Eastern Conference this season.
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