4. DeMar DeRozan
If you read my article about DeMar DeRozan that was published yesterday then you already know how I feel about DeRozan. Quite frankly, at this point in his career, I think he is extremely overrated and there is a reason why the San Antonio Spurs would shop him.
Let’s start with what he is good at and could offer the Lakers. DeRozan is good at slashing to the rim and is a fairly decent scorer that can drop 20 a night. He is also a really good pick and roll ballhandler and can be a second playmaker behind LeBron James.
That is where the positives end. And while those are valuable things, there are too many holes in his game to ignore, especially considering the Lakers can get the things that DeRozan offers for much cheaper.
DeRozan is not a good defensive player. He is not just “not good” on defense, but he is outright bad. DeRozan posted a -2.1 DPIPM. To compare, Kyle Kuzma, who is also not a great defender, was half as bad as DeRozan was last.
And he does not shoot threes. DeRozan is the worst three-point shooting two-guard in the league, shooting a combined 20 percent over the last two seasons.
He doesn’t have to be a good three-point shooter but he does not offer enough outside of that to justify sending a decent amount of trade capital for.