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In the weeks leading up to the 2009-10 season, I'm going to profile the 11 Raptors who should receive most of the playing time this season. Today, we turn the RaptorBlog spotlight on DeMar DeRozan.
2008-09 NCAA numbers: 35 games, 33.4 MPG, 13.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 BPG, 0.9 SPG, .523 FG%, .167 3P%, .646 FT%
The mid-range jumper might appear to be a dying artform in the NBA — but while we all know about his impressive vertical, it also appears that DeMar DeRozan has a very impressive mid-range game. He doesn't score much from beyond the arc right now, he doesn't get to the line particularly often and he's not very accurate from either of those locations. In between those two zones however, he's NBA ready.
Isolation plays? No problem. He takes it to the hole with confidence (although his handle isn't outstanding yet) and he can also create space and knock down a jumper in his defender's face. Catch-and-shoot? Certainly. He has good quickness on his (somewhat awkward-looking) release and can hit those shots with solid consistency. Pull-up jumpers in transition? As you wish. His athleticism allows him to get down the court quickly and he's capable of stopping on a dime and nailing a wet J.
While these mid-range skills seem to be pretty polished, his offence is still the rawest portion of his skillset. He needs to develop a functional outside shot (he only made six of his 36 trey attempts last season), he needs to drive to the hole more often (he only averaged 4.2 free throw attempts per game) and he's going to need to improve his court vision (only 1.5 assists per game) now that he's no longer automatically the most talented player on the floor.
Of course, the most appealing thing about DeRozan as a prospect is his athleticism — as displayed by his 38.5-inch vertical leap in pre-draft measurements. That athleticism manifests itself in jaw-dropping dunks, in impressive rebounding numbers (for a swingman) and in the potential, with experience, for DeRozan to become a very good NBA defender. He has the lateral quickness to be able to effectively defend the majority of the NBA's top scorers.
Along with all these tantalizing skills, Raptors fans should also be impressed with what appears to be a very strong work ethic and drive for self-improvement. From a couple of blurry photos taken by Eric Smith, it would appear that DeMar wasn't faking it when he Tweeted all those times about hitting the gym. Dude definitely packed some serious meat on his arms and shoulders this off-season.
By all accounts, DeMar DeRozan appears to be a nice, hard-working kid who just happens to be blessed with elite athleticism and apparently loves Toronto. We haven't even seen him play a real NBA game yet, but it's hard to resist considering the possibility that he could prove to be the best Raptors draft pick since a certain skinny, long-necked kid was drafted out of Georgia Tech in 2003.
That's the thing about rookies, isn't it? It's all too easy to get excited about how they could turn out — especially when you're considering a physical specimen like DeMar. But let's not forget that he's still pretty raw and he may not get a ton of playing time in his rookie season on what appears to be a very deep roster. So while we shouldn't expect Rookie of the Year contention from our boy, we should look forward to tantalizing glimpses of potential future greatness and occasional jump-out-of-your seat throwdowns. Come on up for DeRising. 
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