Celtics Again Ranked as Top DeMar DeRozan Landing Spot, This Time Because of Jaylen Brown

Two weeks ago, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale included the Boston Celtics as one of the best landing spots for DeMar DeRozan.

Now, another Bleacher Report writer thinks Boston is the best place for the six-time All-Star.

Grant Hughes ranked the Celtics as the top landing spot for DeRozan, followed by the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. The reason? Hughes believes DeRozan is the free agent best positioned to replace one of Jaylen Brown’s greatest strengths.

“A poor defender and a reluctant three-point shooter throughout his long career, DeRozan remains a specialist in the self-created two-point jumper,” wrote Hughes. “Last year, a whopping 73 percent of DeRozan’s shots came in the mid-range area, and he made half of them.

“Brown’s penchant for those same shots had a lot to do with his low approval rating among the analytically inclined, but those are often the only available looks in a playoff scenario. Brown could take and make ‘bad’ shots, and so can DeRozan. He could fit right into the middle of Boston’s attack, which otherwise swings the ball around the perimeter hunting for threes.”

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DeRozan, 37, has long been one of the NBA’s best scorers. He’s averaged 21.1 points per game for his career while shooting 47.1 percent from the field. His scoring dipped last season, but he still averaged 18.4 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting.

As Hughes notes, DeRozan isn’t much of a 3-point shooter. He instead does the bulk of his damage from midrange.

Only five players made more midrange shots than Brown last season. One of those players was DeRozan, who has led the league in that category in four of the last five seasons.

Does that make DeRozan the missing piece in Boston? Not necessarily. He’s never been known for his defense, and Joe Mazzulla’s system heavily emphasizes 3-point shooting. DeRozan would give them another scorer and playmaker, but his fit with Jayson Tatum, Paul George and the rest of Boston’s roster wouldn’t be the most natural.

It would be a more interesting conversation if DeRozan were willing to come off the bench, but it’s unclear whether he’d accept a sixth-man role.

Even if the Celtics were interested in DeRozan, they would have some competition.

After trading Peyton Watson, the Denver Nuggets have “their eyes directed” toward DeRozan. He reportedly “remains a free agent in demand for contenders.”

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