All-Star snub Darius Garland more deserving than these three
By John Suchan
No. 2 All-Star that shouldn’t have made team: DeMar DeRozan, G, Chicago Bulls
DeMar DeRozan may have a better scoring average than Garland this season, but in almost every other statistical category Garland has DeRozan’s number. Also, the Chicago Bulls are going nowhere and DeRozan is way past his prime, while Garland is a rising star in the NBA.
DeRozan is an outstanding player and would be deserving of this reserve role selection to the All-Star if it weren’t for the fact that there are younger players like Garland that are waiting in the wings. DeRozan has a 26-points-per-game scoring average, but he doesn’t come close to Garland in many other categories, including in the assist department.
Garland has had 40 games of five or more assists, including 15 games where he’s had 10 or more. DeRozan only has one game this year where he dished out more than 10 assists. When you talk double-doubles, Garland has had 15 of them, thanks to that assist category, while DeRozan has only produced three of those games.
In terms of helping his team out in the win column, DeRozan is sitting at a 23-25 record, while Garland has a 23-22 record to date. The win percentages aren’t that different, but what Garland can do moving forward this season to get his team to the playoffs is a lot more than DeRozan will be able to do for his Bulls team.