DeMar DeRozan over Stephen Curry for All-NBA second team? Not so fast
By Jelani Scott
Team Impact
Although I mentioned on the previous slide that both teams have had varying successes over the years, it’s worth mentioning again.
Despite the threats of injuries all year, Curry managed to be a part of a 58-win Warriors squad that finished second in the wild, wild West, further staking the team’s claim as one of the best teams ever.
Over in Canada, DeRozan carved a spot in the history books by leading the Raps to their best record in franchise history (59-23) and the #1 seed in the East.
The storied organizations matched up twice during the regular season with the Dubs taking both of the highly competitive contests.
In Game 1, Curry was the high-point man with 30 points to Derozan’s 24 but in Game 2, DeRozan bounced back with 42 points to Curry’s 24.
As expected, both men showed their value in these games and, when the dust settled on the season, it was interesting to see just how their impact was interpreted numerically.
According to Basketball Reference, Curry ranked 10th in usage percentage (31) while DeRozan finished close by at 17th with 29.6. Curry’s offensive rating came in at 124.6, good enough for ninth-best in the league; DeRozan didn’t place in the top-20.
In regards to win shares, things got a little tricky. Curry’s offensive win share contribution of 7.2 put him at 11th in the league while DeRozan ranked 14th with a 6.8.
Read More: Curry named All-NBA Third Team
Overall win shares is the first category where we see DeRozan with a clear advantage over Curry. His 9.6 (16th) to Steph’s 9.1 (19th) show the Raptors’ dependency on DeMar throughout the season.
It was a close race but the team impact category evens things at 1-1. You take DeRozan off Toronto and there’s no way they win 59 games but the Dubs admittedly managed to put together a great year despite not having Curry for 31 games.
Now, let’s narrow down this decision in our last slide, shall we?