DeMarre Carroll's career arc is pretty incredible. He came into the league as a borderline player, and for two and a half seasons, looked like he was on the wrong side of that borderline. Then he landed in Utah, found an opportunity and made the most of it. He built off that in putting together a strong season in 2013 with the Jazz, and parlayed that into a deal with Atlanta, where he blossomed into a near-elite defender, rebounder, and eventual 3-point threat. By the time the playoffs rolled around last year, there were long stretches where Carroll was the Atlanta's best player.
Carroll once again made the most of his opportunity this offseason, signing a 4-year, $60 million deal with the Raptors. That deal raised a lot of eyebrows as a 3-and-D, primarily defensive role player getting that kind of coin seemed like a drastic overpay. However, there are a few things to keep in mind with that deal. One, it instantly solved a major problem for the Raptors, which was their perimeter defense. Last year the Raps were an absolute sieve on the edge, and their atrocious overall defense was largely to blame for their stark decline over the final four months of the season as well as their ignominious playoff exit. So adding Carroll is definitely at a "position of need."
But Carroll could be bringing even more than that to Toronto. In a one-on-one interview with Raptors HQ, Carroll -- who has added something new to his game pretty much every year in going from a hustle-type athlete who made good cuts and cleaned up misses to a legit scoring threat and integral offensive force -- spoke about where his game is headed:
Masai and Coach Casey, I know they talked about expanding your offensive role. In Coach Bud’s system in Atlanta, your offense was very defined – a lot of three-pointers and drives to the rim. Where, if anywhere, are you looking to expand your repertoire in Toronto?
"I think, most importantly, is just play pick and roll. I think I understand that and it’s what my next step is. I’ll continue to keep shooting the three ball, continue to keep slashing, and continue to make my main focus playing defense. That’s what they really brought me over here for. But I think playing pick and roll is the next step on my ladder and, once I learn how to play pick and roll and [how to make] proper reads off pick and roll, then I can start looking toward other things, like maybe playing one on one and posting up. But I think it’s just taking it one step at a time.
"Each year I’m in Toronto, I’m trying to grow, and you don’t want to try to take too many leaps and bounds at once, because you have to try to perfect one thing and keep getting better at one thing and I think that’s what I try to do. That’s why I had so many successful years in Atlanta."
Carroll's definitely got the right idea here. He's not suddenly goign to vault into superstardom, so expanding your game one area at a time is what has gotten him this far, and there are good signs with where Carroll's at in terms of the pick-and-roll already. Last season he was in the 70th percentile in terms of pick-and-roll production as the ball-handler, including passes, according to Synergy Sports. When he passed out of the pick-and-roll, the Hawks shot 47 percent for a .958 points per possession mark, which is excellent.
What you notice is that Carroll mostly goes into pick-and-roll situations with specific goals in mind. Learning that read progression is likely the next step, and it's something that his comfort at an older age may actually help him with. When he looks to pass, he makes the pass cleanly and quickly.
And when Carroll gets into space with the intention to shoot, he recognizes when the defender drops under the screen and can knock it down smooth:
Conversely, if he gets into traffic, he can get in trouble, particularly on side pick-and-rolls. Defenders last year would jump to the screen side, forcing him baseline, and that's a lot of what lead to his 23.3 percent turnover mark, which is notably high:
Finally, Carroll still has to work on slowing things down. Watch the difference when Carroll gets rushed coming off the pick with defenders closing in the first clip vs. the second clip when he's a lot more patient with reading the defense.
Carroll's primary responsibilities for the Raptors will be to defend, rebound and knock down spot-up shots (Carroll was in the 88th percentile in catch-and-shoot opportunities via Synergy Sports last season). But there is room to branch out a bit more, and having another threat on the floor, especially when DeMar DeRozan sits, will help the Raptors considerably. At times the defense simply keyed on Kyle Lowry, sending multiple defenders that Lowry was always trying to fight through. Giving him more options, not only with Carroll as a shooter but as a creator for a secondary action, will only help.
Carroll's come a long way in his career, and the pick-and-roll is another frontier. If he can conquer it the way he's overcome the other obstacles, the Raptors will be that much closer to taking a step toward legitimate contention in the Eastern Conference.
