Getty LeBron James' excellent was season was "irrelevant" when compared with DeMar DeRozan's, said one NBA.com writer.
The Chicago Bulls have done more this season than just earn their first playoff berth since 2017. They have regained the attention of the basketball world.
One Bulls star, in particular, is getting the kind of recognition that would bring smiles to faces of Bulls fans.
Forward DeMar DeRozan was an unofficial All-NBA pick of each member of a five-writer NBA.com panel that included Steve Aschburner, Shaun Powell, Mark Medina, John Schuhmann, and Michael C. Wright.
The picks were published April 14, and DeRozan was a second- or third-teamer on each list, and that is where things got interesting.
DeRozan’s Big Year
Powell, one of the writers, acknowledged that his honoring DeRozan over the Los Angeles Lakers‘ LeBron James could catch some attention.
“DeMar DeRozan over LeBron James for 2nd team honors might make some folks do a double-take, but DeRozan, who averaged just three points less than LeBron (and played 20 more games), was a difference-maker for the playoff-bound Bulls,” Powell wrote.
But it was a career year for DeRozan, 32. He had a career high 27.9 points per game on 35.2% from three-point range this year. His 50.4% shooting from the floor and 87.7% from the free-throw line were the second-best percentages of his career.
DeMar DeRozan’s final stats:
76 games
27.9 ppg (career-high, 5th in NBA)
50.4 FG% (2nd-best of career)
87.7 FT% (2nd-best of career)
5.2 rpg (tied for 3rd-best avg. of career)
4.9 apg (5th best)
36.1 mpg (most since 2013-14)
.590 TS% (3rd-best of career)
James also had an excellent year, scoring 30.3 point per game, but failed to get the Lakers to the playoffs.
“LeBron James’ individual results were remarkable yet irrelevant. For instance, he scored 30+ points 34 times; the Lakers went 16-18,” Aschburner wrote.
Meanwhile, the Bulls went 19-9 when DeRozan scored at least 30 points in a game this season, per Stat Muse.
James, 37, missed the Lakers’ final five games and eight of their final 10. Though he finished the season 0.3 points behind scoring champ Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, he appeared in just 56 games this season.
DeRozan missed just six games all season. As Powell pointed out, DeRozan wasn’t far off of James’ scoring pace, finishing fifth in the league in points per game.
A Consistent Theme
None of the “voters” selected DeRozan on his All-NBA first team, perhaps owing to the Bulls’ late-season swoon.
Aschburner, one of the NBA.com panelists, wrote: “DeMar DeRozan’s team faded but his 13th season, at age 32, changed the culture in Chicago.”
DeMar DeRozan took 741 midrange FGAs this season, which was 241 more than the next closest player in Devin Booker.
He shot 47% on those looks, which was 2nd-best among players who shot at least 300 midrange FGAs, per NBA Stats (Durant was 1st).
Crazy volume. Crazy efficiency.
DeRozan’s career year was a direct factor for Wright. He gave a nod to the incredible seasons both James and Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant had. But he also acknowledged that they simply missed too many games to garner a spot over more durable stars with comparable production.
“Despite incredible 2021-22 campaigns from James and Durant, the superstars sat out of a combined 53 games. Meanwhile, the players ahead of them put together career years, especially the 32-year-old DeRozan, who finished with his highest scoring average in 13 seasons,” Wright wrote.
James averaged his points on 61.9% true shooting with 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists. Durant put up 29.9 points, 7.4 boards, and 6.4 assists on 63.4% true shooting for the Nets who earned the seven-seed in the East by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 12.
Tough Challenge Ahead
DeRozan said he knows the Bulls are in between a rock and a hard place with the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on deck April 17 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. They went 0-4 against them in the regular season. He still openly accepts the challenge.
“For me I look it as a hell of a challenge,” DeRozan told the Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry on April 12.
DeMar DeRozan on the Bulls’ first-round challenge against the Milwaukee Bucks.
DeRozan spoke with ESPN’s Jamal Collier in January about his journey and how his previous time in San Antonio and Toronto have molded him.
“At 32, DeMar DeRozan is better than ever,” Collier wrote. “Now in his 13th season, DeRozan is experiencing the rarest of sports commodities: a late-career renaissance.”