Demar Derozan or Kawhi Leonard

[Lebron23]

Who's the better player this season??? Who do you think is going to have the better NBA Career??


Kawhi Leonard

11.8 ppg on 51.5 FG%, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.9 spg, and 0.4 bpg. Looking at these stats Kawhi will never be a franchise type of player in the NBA. He's gonna be a solid 4th-5th scoring option on a championship level team.

Demar Derozan

21.4 ppg on 44 FG%, 3.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg. Derozan is having his best statistical season in his NBA Career, But the raptors only won 9 games so far this season.

[RagaZ]

Holy sh*t, a LeBron23 thread without mentioning LeSteroids. :eek:

[Lebron23]

Holy sh*t, a LeBron23 thread without mentioning LeSteroids. :eek:

He passed the Olympic Style Drug test. You can take the best PEDS in the world, but you would still remain as a talentless stiff.

[RagaZ]

LeSteroids game = His Physique.

[Lebron23]

LeSteroids game = His Physique.


Lebron at 18 already weighed in at 245 lbs.

[Myth]

They bring different things to the table. Derozan is more likely to put up big points on a bad team and Kawhi is more likely to benefit a good team. I'd take Kawhi for either type of team though. On a good team, Kawhi can mesh in. On a bad team where they are expected to be the "star," Kawhi is a good building block for when that team gets a high draft pick.

[hawkfan]

Who's the better player this season??? Who do you think is going to have the better NBA Career??


Kawhi Leonard

11.8 ppg on 51.5 FG%, 6.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.9 spg, and 0.4 bpg. Looking at these stats Kawhi will never be a franchise type of player in the NBA. He's gonna be a solid 4th-5th scoring option on a championship level team.

Demar Derozan

21.4 ppg on 44 FG%, 3.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg. Derozan is having his best statistical season in his NBA Career, But the raptors only won 9 games so far this season.

Leonard is a better complementary player, who can fit in and do a bunch of things well.

DeRozan is a better scorer who hasn't been challenged to do other things because he is with a team that hasn't won in a while.

Hard to tell how DeRozan would do in a Pop system and having to perform next to TD-MG-TP.

[Dave3]

For a better comparison, it's a better idea to give the Raptors a bit more time to see how Derozan looks without Rudy. So far it's only been 4 games, but if these 4 games are indicative, I'd choose him. I never like to base decisions on such a small amount of games though, so we'll see.

Derozan also looked really good the few weeks before Gay left too, but again, I wanna see home for longer without him.

[T-Time3]

at this point, easily kawhi. he has nba finals experience and play solid D.
i dont know much about derozan outside of his scoring.

[I<3NBA]

Holy sh*t, a LeBron23 thread without mentioning LeSteroids. :eek:
yeah. and you had to ruin the thread by bringin him in + the name calling :facepalm

it's rare OP starts a thread without Lebron. but you had to ruin the moment. :facepalm

[scm5]

I would rather take Kawhi because he fits onto a championship caliber team. I don't know if Derozan is good enough to be a #1 or 2 option on a championship caliber team, but he plays like a #1 or 2 option.

[AboutBuckets]

Give me significantly above-average defense and efficient scoring with high Basketball IQ over an athleticism-based volume shooter any day of the week. If you were to put Leonard on Derozan for 48 minutes I doubt he'd look good as he does now in his 'newly single' scorers phase

[rmt]

You do know that Leonard is only playing 28.2 minutes - over 10 minutes LESS than Derozan. And KL is 3rd in scoring on the team behind Parker and Duncan. Even Parker who plays the most minutes on the team only averages 30.2 minutes.

[TexasBloodMoney]

Just because Kawhi isn't a chucker doesn't mean he can't score.

[CavaliersFTW]

Lebron at 18 already weighed in at 245 lbs.
Yes, because hes been taking steroids since before he turned 18

[moe94]

Yes, because hes been taking steroids since before he turned 18
What's your obsession with it? Surely you're not still mad over 2010? :biggums:

[TMT]

I honestly can't say that I've watched DeRozan much other than when the Spurs play the Raptors, but Leonard isn't one of those players that you can judge based off his stats. It's no doubt that he's accepting a diminished role while the Spurs centerpieces ride off into the sunset, and that's fairly obvious if you've watched them at all the past couple years. The Spurs don't run plays for Leonard, and unless he is creating opportunities for himself off defensive plays he is usually taking jump shots in the offense.

In a few years when Leonard gets his shot as a main focal point in the offense and playing a rightful amount of minutes, that's when you will be able to judge him as a player. Right now he's sticking in that complimentary role, which is both out of respect for the future hall of famers he's playing alongside and one of the best coaches in NBA history who he has much respect for.

Clearly there's no doubt from watching the playoffs last year, notably the NBA Finals, that when he is given the green light he can be a hell of a player. He's bursting with potential, and if theoretically he was on a team like the Raptors I could see him putting up similar points to Derozan while maintaining a higher FG% as well as assist and rebound numbers.

[Legends66NBA7]

I guess most haven't watched DeRozan. I don't blame them since the Raptors haven't exactly been circled down on a calender during his 5 year tenure.

Like, how has DeRozan not been challenged to do different things ? He's facilitating and shooting the 3 point shot a lot more and is succeeding. His defense has improved, it gets a bad rep but he has been much more solid. With Gay gone, he's going to be counted on to be much more all-around SG, which it seems he's molding into.

I think Leonard is a "safe" pick for a team that needs a player to follow a structure like San Antonio. I have no idea what he would do on a team that needs for him to be the high scorer, but I'm assuming he would be pretty decent. Leonard already has a way better team from cast, coach, and management. I don't think for a second that DeRozan wouldn't excel in that system and have similar success, similar to Leonard having similar success/numbers in Toronto.

In conclusion, I would take DeRozan but it is very close. I think he could be an all-star this season if he continues to take responsibility of being that all-around player and leader the Raptors need. Leonard might have the better career because of him being in a great organization as I still see San Antonio challenging for a couple more title runs.

[Lebron23]

Demar Derozan is now an NBA All star. Let's see if Kawhii can make it into the all star game in the next 2 years.

I love to see Leonard's numbers and productions once Duncan, Ginobili, and Popovich retires in the next 2 years.

[Legends66NBA7]

Well, I defended DeMar on this one... but going forward, this Finals MVP and title has to be a big boost for Leonard and it's more than reasonable now to select him.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Leonard. Easily

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Not everyone fits in the Spurs system. I realize they pick up almost-out-of-the-NBA players and turn them into quality rotational guys, but previously good basketball players have failed under Pop (Jefferson, for instance). Pop said it best, "We draft guys who have gotten over themselves.".

So while who knows how much Leonard is benefitting from Pop and the system (I'm sure quite a bit), there's no guarantee DeRozan would be equally effective in the same role either. I think the fact that Leonard matched up with LeBron to an extent on the biggest stage says he's more than just a system player. And, hey, DeRozan was arguably the best player on a playoff team so he's more than a statpadder on losing team. Granted, the East.

[Legends66NBA7]

Not everyone fits in the Spurs system. I realize they pick up almost-out-of-the-NBA players and turn them into quality rotational guys, but previously good basketball players have failed under Pop (Jefferson, for instance). Pop said it best, "We draft guys who have gotten over themselves.".

So while who knows how much Leonard is benefitting from Pop and the system (I'm sure quite a bit), there's no guarantee DeRozan would be equally effective in the same role either. I think the fact that Leonard matched up with LeBron to an extent on the biggest stage says he's more than just a system player. And, hey, DeRozan was arguably the best player on a playoff team so he's more than a statpadder on losing team. Granted, the East.

If there's one particular weakness I want to see DeMar turn into a strength... it's to become much more impactful on the defensive end. He was getting worked by Joe Johnson in the Nets series. I thought he did a better job in Game 4 overall and Game 1 during the 4th, but he can't seem to do that on a consistent basis yet.

As he gets older, I do think he can become much better. Coach Dwane Casey did say that DeMar has a room to grow defensively and he does have the tools to become elite on that end, although, you can take those words whichever way you like.

[ImKobe]

http://i.imgur.com/5cLzu1O.jpg