Denver just added a six-time All-Star for the price of a backup big man. DeMar DeRozan signed with the Nuggets on a one-year, $3.9 million deal, which lines up with the veteran minimum for players with 10-plus years of service.
DeRozan is 37. He is also coming off a season in which he averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 31.2 minutes across 77 games for Sacramento while shooting 49.7 percent from the field.
Eighteen points a night for the minimum is the kind of value that decides playoff series.
Why Denver
DeRozan had options. He talked with Miami, Washington and New Orleans during free agency before landing on the Nuggets. He picked Denver for a real role on a team that can win in the West, which is the only outcome that makes sense at this stage of his career.
The recruiting helped. Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray all reportedly spoke with DeRozan about coming to Denver. When the best passer in basketball personally calls you, that pitch does not need much decoration.
Denver has spent years trying to solve the same problem, which is what happens to the offense when Jokic sits. The bench units have been the difference between a title run and a second-round exit more than once.
The Fit
DeRozan is the exact archetype Denver has been missing. He creates his own shot in the midrange, gets to the free throw line, and does not need a play called for him to produce. Give him five minutes with the second unit and he will manufacture something.
He also fits alongside Jokic better than his reputation suggests. DeRozan is a willing passer and a smart cutter, and the elbow game Denver runs through Jokic is built for players who can operate in that middle zone. Two-man actions between them should be one of the more entertaining things in the league this year.
The obvious weakness is the three-point shot. DeRozan hit 32.0 percent from deep last season, and Denver’s spacing has never had margin to spare. If opponents ignore him beyond the arc, some lineups get cramped in a hurry.
Defense is the other question. DeRozan at 37 is not going to anchor anything on that end, and Denver will have to pick its spots with him in playoff matchups.
What It Means for the West
The Nuggets got better without spending anything meaningful. That is the whole point. In a cap environment where every contender is scraping for minimum contracts that can actually play, Denver landed the best one available.
For DeRozan, this is the closest he has been to a title in a career that has been defined by great individual seasons on teams that ran out of runway. He has never played with a player like Jokic. That alone should raise his efficiency.
One year is the right length for both sides. Denver gets an escape hatch if the fit is awkward, and DeRozan gets to prove he belongs on a contender and hit free agency again next summer with real leverage.
Low risk, high upside, and it costs Denver less than most role players. The Nuggets did well here.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.