The Nuggets will want DeRozan ready for the playoffs as well so he’ll play plenty next to Joker so that he too can acclimate to having a center as the hub of the offense, but the Nuggets desperately need an on-ball presence with the bench who can score without Jokic – and with almost 27,000 points in his career DeMar can absolutely score. His True Shooting Percentage of .594 last year showed he can keep his efficiency up as well, something else that will play extremely well in Denver.
Interestingly, it looks like Denver’s core had a lot to do with DeRozan choosing the Nuggets from among his suitors. Chris Haynes says that Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray all talked with DeRozan about joining the team. Having another vet who has been through big moments will be huge.