One of the biggest Woj Bombs dropped this season was the fact DeMar DeRozan was almost the trade Sam Presti made instead of Paul George.
Adrian Wojnarowski is famous for dropping breaking news generally about trades which became known as Woj Bombs. In his most recent podcast of May 6th, he dropped shocking news about an almost trade by the OKC Thunder.
Prior to the Paul George trade with the Pacers, Wojnarowski says Sam Presti was in discussions with Masai Ujiri of the Toronto Raptors. The trade included Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis (the same players sent to Indiana) in exchange for DeMar DeRozan. That news is shocking. Although DeMar DeRozan is a quality player with the ability to score, play make and rebound his fit with Russell Westbrook specifically makes no sense.
DeRozan is a mid range shooting specialist who also doesn’t fit the typical defensive ability the OKC Thunder and Sam Presti are known to covet. Gregg Popovich definitely recognized areas of DeRozan’s game he could expand, but even then it’s hard to wrap my head around how the pairing of DeRozan and Westbrook would’ve paid anywhere near the same dividends Paul George has.
Ultimately, Sam Presti decided to take the risk of retaining George and got a more suitable compliment to Westbrook. Moreover, the comparison of George and DeRozan defensively is night and day. Having witnessed DeRozan in action over his tenure in Toronto I can unequivocally state he is of the highest quality when it comes to leadership.
DeRozan Stats:
| Season | Tm | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | TOR | 35.4 | 20.9 | .467 | 1.7 | .266 | 19.2 | .484 | .477 | 8.7 | .842 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 1.1 | 27.3 |
| 2017-18 | TOR | 33.9 | 17.7 | .456 | 3.6 | .310 | 14.1 | .494 | .488 | 7.0 | .825 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 23.0 |
| 2018-19 | SAS | 34.9 | 17.1 | .481 | 0.6 | .156 | 16.5 | .492 | .483 | 5.7 | .830 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 21.2 |
| Career | 34.1 | 15.8 | .451 | 1.6 | .283 | 14.2 | .470 | .465 | 6.3 | .828 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 19.9 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.
DeRozan Advanced Stats:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.
George Stats:
| Season | Tm | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | IND | 35.9 | 18.0 | .461 | 6.6 | .393 | 11.4 | .501 | .534 | 5.0 | .898 | 6.6 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 23.7 |
| 2017-18 | OKC | 36.6 | 17.0 | .430 | 7.7 | .401 | 9.3 | .454 | .521 | 5.2 | .822 | 5.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 21.9 |
| 2018-19 | OKC | 36.9 | 21.0 | .438 | 9.8 | .386 | 11.1 | .484 | .529 | 7.0 | .839 | 8.2 | 4.1 | 2.2 | 28.0 |
| Career | 33.8 | 15.5 | .433 | 6.3 | .378 | 9.2 | .470 | .509 | 4.8 | .844 | 6.4 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 19.8 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.
George Advanced Stats:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.
Moreover, his work ethic in the offseason is unparalleled. During the Rio Summer Olympics, DeRozan arose at 4:00 AM each morning to work out with the team he brought with him to improve his game. One summer he spent the entire period only using his left hand for off court activities to build up his left hand strength.
I have nothing but the ultimate respect for DeRozan but I simply can’t imagine how drastically different his fit with the Thunder and Westbrook would’ve been. Granted, DeRozan who hails from Compton is a player with a previous relationship with Westbrook and perhaps this was something which had been discussed internally.
OKC Thunder perimeter scoring would have suffered even more with DeRozan:
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- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
For a squad with so little perimeter scoring adding DeRozan who is 28.3 percent career perimeter shooter and this season regressed to 15.6 percent punctuates how drastically this would’ve affected the Thunder.
With the Thunder struggling from the perimeter this season, imagine how dire the situation would’ve been with DeRozan in the mix.
Factor in the defensive situation and the thought process is even more confounding.
Ultimately, Presti took the risk and it paid dividends. Put this one in the “good thing that trade didn’t happen” column.
The section of the podcast where they discuss this trade occurs around the 20:00 minute mark and can be accessed via this link.
Wojnarowski also discusses how it was clear almost immediately that Paul George would return to OKC literally two weeks after the trade occurred. He compares the difference to George with the risk Masai Ujiri took to trade for Kawhi Leonard and also says the Raptors are far closer to retaining Leonard than they were initially.
As always Woj’s podcasts are among the best and his guest on this show is ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.