Kings' DeMar DeRozan reveals what Spurs' Gregg Popovich taught him
09/10/2024 04:38 PM
DeMar DeRozan has officially become a journeyman in the NBA. After his stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, he has now found himself playing alongside De’Aaron Fox in the Sacramento Kings system. This also means that he has worked under many legendary coaches of the 21st century. Despite the myriad of head honchos that he played for, one will always stand out and that is Coach Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs head honcho is always a wonderful experience for any player that he comes across. Gregg Popovich springboards a lot of players to success from David Robinson and Tim Duncan all the way to Victor Wembanyama. Before Pop got The Alien by his side, he first had to mentor DeMar DeRozan. How did that work out? Well, it sounds like the master of the midrange had a lot of learnings under the Spurs system.
“It was like a university that I graduated in three years when I was in San Antonio. Pop challenged me on a whole different level that I have never been challenged in before. Moreso from understanding how to be a playmaker, how to play without the ball, how to make your teammates around you way better, make them comfortable, and make them find different ways to have confidence in the game. And I carried all that over with my ability to be able to score to Chicago. I put all that together,” the Kings veteran said during his appearance on the Podcast P Show with Paul George.
What is the expectation for DeMar DeRozan when he enters the Kings?
The first thing is that he will be the veteran on the squad who will be guiding Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox. Moreover, his numbers should also still be solid despite being 35 years old. Just last season, DeRozan proved that he still has a lot of legs after playing 79 games with the Bulls.
His numbers alongside the Midwestern squad were also not bad. DeRozan knocked down 48% of his shots from all three levels of scoring to notch an average of 24 points. Offensively, he is still very serviceable when it comes to being the playmaker as he drops 5.3 assists a night. On defense, the Kings can still expect him do great as he grabs 4.3 rebounds while also stealing the ball 1.1 times a game.
Gregg Popovich has clearly shown DeRozan the secret to longevity in the league. While he already left the Spurs system, the Kings could surely benefit from his veteran acumen.
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