DeMar DeRozan is putting up historic numbers with a throwback style

A certain offensive approach currently reigns supreme in the NBA. Teams that don’t or can’t spread the floor and shoot lots of 3-pointers are said to be ignorant of basic math, and perimeter players who struggle with their jumpers often seem to create more problems than they solve. Much of the analysis can be harsh, but it also feels right in a league where innovation occurs at an accelerated pace.

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Yet several players manage to buck those trends and succeed despite looking like poor fits for this era. One of them is Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, a two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist who does most of his damage in the mid-range. DeRozan made all of 47 3-pointers in 2015-16 and just 204 in the first seven seasons of his career, numbers that would seem to make him a poor fit in a modern NBA offense. But DeRozan does just fine for himself and has become one of the faces of the Raptors.

The 27-year-old has raised his non-3 scoring to new heights to begin this season. DeRozan put up 33 points (13-of-23 FG, 7-of-9 FT) in Monday night’s 105-102 win over the visiting Denver Nuggets, enough to start the campaign with three games of at least 32 points.

DeRozan is the first Raptor ever to begin a year with 30 points in each of his first three games, but it’s how he’s getting those buckets that makes his play so notable. He has attempted only four 3-pointers and made none, making him the first player in 11 years to score 30 points in his first three games of the season without a triple:

DeRozan has also made history due to his very low assist total, although this one is a little more difficult to spin as a positive:

Nevertheless, what DeRozan has done to start 2016-17 demands attention. He has put up very impressive scoring numbers to lead the Raptors to a 2-1 record (with the lone loss a narrow one to the Cleveland Cavaliers) and done so with efficiency. DeRozan is 21-of-23 (91.3 percent) from the free-throw line and 42-of-71 (59.2 percent) on two-pointers, rates that would both rank among the best in the NBA over a full season.

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It’s fair to wonder if any of this is sustainable. DeRozan is actually getting to the line less than he did last season, when he averaged 8.4 attempts per game, but his current percentage at the stripe would represent a major improvement for a player who just reached a career-best at 85.0 percent in 2015-16. But that difference is minor compared to what would be required for DeRozan to jump from last season’s 42.6 percent conversion rate up to his current mark. He is quite obviously not going to make 59 percent of his twos all year.

That could be a problem for the Raptors, because the rest of the team is not making up for DeRozan’s lack of 3-point shooting at this point. They have shot 4-of-16 from deep against both the Nuggets and Cavaliers and went 3-of-18 from long distance in Wednesday’s season-opening win over the Detroit Pistons.

Those numbers may be skewed by DeRozan’s excellent play so far — he’s been good enough that Toronto has reason to go away from the 3-point shot — but they’re also concerning. It’s telling that it took a terrific game from fellow backcourt star Kyle Lowry (29 points on 10-of-20 FG and 8-of-10 FT) to beat the Nuggets on Monday as the Raptors scored just 43 points after the break.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate DeRozan’s recent run as an impressive oddity. He’s been terrific in a way that most players aren’t these days. It’s a reminder that, no matter what’s in fashion, a unique talent can find a way to be great.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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