The Golden State Warriors were quickly identified as a potential destination for DeMar DeRozan following his departure from the Sacramento Kings, and especially if the franchise fails to land LeBron James as their number one priority in free agency.
Golden State's need for more scoring makes DeRozan an understandable solution, but the six-time All-Star would also make for an obvious problem when it comes to his potential role over some of the team's younger players.
DeMar DeRozan may take opportunity away from Warriors' youngsters
The Warriors' interest in James proves they're willing to get even older than they already were last season. That makes sense when the 41-year-old is still a top 20 player in the league when healthy, and is simply far better than 11th overall pick Yaxel Lendeborg and improved forward Gui Santos.
But can the same be said for DeRozan as a possible backup plan? Would the 36-year-old really bring enough upside to justify the potential downside of taking minutes and opportunity away from the likes of Lendeborg, Santos and Brandin Podziemski?
The short answer to that is no. DeRozan might be a better option in the short-term, but even then you may argue Lendeborg could make more impact based on his very impressive first five games with the Warriors in summer league.
Regardless, adding DeRozan is unlikely to push Golden State into a top six seed in the Western Conference while Jimmy Butler remains sidelined by injury. Would it not therefore be far more fruitful to simply give bigger roles to the likes of Lendeborg and Santos to further fastrack their development?
DeMar DeRozan viewed as Warriors' LeBron James fallback plan
Roby Kalland of CBS Sports looked at the 'Plan B' for all the James suitors as the NBA world awaits his decision, noting that the Warriors "feel like the most likely landing spot for DeRozan if they miss out on James."
Kalland pointed to Golden State's need for more shot-creation and identified DeRozan's potential as a floor raiser, something the franchise would be looking for as they try to keep their head above water while Butler recovers from his torn ACL.
Do we really believe in DeRozan as a floor raiser though? Despite averaging over 18 points on nearly 50% shooting from the floor last season, DeRozan's Kings still wound up with a miserable 22-60 record and 14th in the Western Conference.
The Warriors could talk themselves into it based on what Kalland described, but it's hard to shake the idea that adding DeRozan could stall the development of young players while not bringing the necessary upside to make it a beneficial move.
Add us as a preferred source on Google