DeMar DeRozan is doing just fine without a 3-pointer

The comments rain down on DeMar DeRozan every summer.

The All-Star guard has done a lot throughout his career. He has helped the Toronto Raptors turn into an Eastern Conference powerhouse. In a league that is seemingly short on shooting guards, DeRozan is among the very best in the league. His unique scoring ability and crafty play off-the-dribble and in the mid-range has a surprising efficiency.

And yet, he hears the same chorus every offseason. Why doesn’t DeRozan work on his 3-point shot? He would be a much better player if he could hit 3-pointers.

Read More: Kyrie Irving isn’t right for the Knicks and the Knicks aren’t right for Kyrie Irving

The Raptors have hit something of a rut. The team is rolling back its roster from last year, but everyone seems to recognize they are not a clear challenger to the Cavaliers so long as Cleveland has LeBron James. Last season’s Raptors team appeared to have everything they needed to challenge Cleveland and they still went down in four games.

Any chance the Raptors have of getting to another tier in the playoffs depends on internal improvement. Last year’s playoff loss led to talk of a culture change but the roster returns almost completely intact. All these questions lead back to one problem and a seemingly obvious solution — DeMar DeRozan developing a 3-point shot.

DeRozan is a career. 28.1 percent 3-point shooter. He made just 26.6 percent of his 3-pointers, averaging 1.7 attempts per game last season. His career high in 3-point field goal percentage came in 2016 when he made just 33.8 percent. The most 3-pointers he ever took was 2.7 per game in the 2014 season.

The 3-pointer has never been a huge part of DeRozan’s game. And eight years into his career, that is not likely to change.

Despite all this, DeRozan has carved out an effective career. His critics will still shout about his inefficiency. Indeed, among points-per-game-qualified players who had a usage rate greater than 25 percent, DeRozan had the fifth worst effective field goal percentage. Maybe stats do not capture all that DeRozan does and can do. These criticisms levied on him are not new. Our Ian Levy wrote about it for The Cauldron in January 2016.

DeRozan continues to be a curiosity. But he finds a way to score and be effective. He gets to the foul line — 8.7 free throw attempts per game last season, the third straight year his attempts per game have increased. As Ian noted then and remains true now, DeRozan is somewhat the spiritual descendant of a player like Richard Hamilton, able to work off the ball to free himself up for mid-range jumpers.

One of the big problems is that DeRozan has struggled in the playoffs. He still put up a gaudy 22.4 points per game, but posted a frigid 43.7 percent effective field goal percentage last year and has never done better than a 45 percent effective field goal percentage in the postseason. Last year his free throw attempts reached 8.0 per game in the playoffs, but he has seen a big dropoff in attempts per game in the playoffs, generally. The correlation between DeRozan’s shot distribution and his playoff struggles doesn’t necessarily indicate causation, but it’s hard to not to think there’s something there.

DeRozan is part of a rare breed of players who have found success for their teams without the 3-point shot. Among those players with a usage rate greater than 25 percent and an effective field goal percentage worse than 50 percent are noted non-shooters Dennis Schroder, Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins, John Wall, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Devin Booker and the godfather of the non-shooting 2-guard Dwyane Wade.

All of those players have faced and continue to face criticism about their shooting, or at least the consistency of it. It would seem lacking this skill should lower their ceilings. Yet, five of those players have been All-Stars. Two of those players — Rose and Westbrook — have won MVP awards. And Wade is an all-time great shooting guard.

Even in this world where shooting is so critical and important, they find a way.

Look, every player would be better if they could make 40 percent of their 3s. But we’re long past the point where DeRozan getting to that level seems plausible. No more hypotheticals, just the player he is right now.

He is special without a 3-point shot because of his ability to get to the line, move without the ball and hit mid-range jumpers. Then there is his extremely efficient isolation play either. According to NBA.com, DeRozan scored 1.02 points per possession on isolation plays on 4.6 isolation possessions per game, the seventh-most in the league. Among players with at least 4.0 isolation plays per game, DeRozan was one of three players to average more than a point per possession.

DeRozan has found a way to carve out an All-Star career without a 3-point shot in an era that demands the 3-point shooting.

The calls remain. The urge to push him further out beyond the 3-point line remains. DeRozan has continued to be himself, but all the numbers and the team’s results suggest the team could use a little something more from its star. Adding a 3-point shot would increase his efficiency and give him a better ability to drive and create in isolation. It could make him more dangerous. It would make any non-3-point shooter more effective. More skills are good, duh.

Is it necessary for this veteran player? DeRozan has survived a long time with this. At 27-years-old, he is entering his prime and seems only to be getting better. He does not need to shoot 40 percent from beyond the arc. He just needs to keep defenses honest. That seems achievable. If he wants to add it to his game.

Next: Welcome the newest batch of Eastern Conference All Stars

And for the Raptors, there is still a tough road ahead. Beating the other titans of the Eastern Conference would be easier if DeRozan could shoot like Stephen Curry but talent comes in all different shapes and sizes. If they fall short in the playoffs now, and beyond, it won’t be just because DeRozan doesn’t have enough range.