It’s not easy for NBA stars to change teams. A new team means a new city, new teammates, new coaches and the new schemes they employ.

DeMar DeRozan doesn’t look like a new San Antonio Spur. He’s doing everything on offense for the 6-3 Spurs and showing a familiarity with Gregg Popovich’s offense that belies their few months together.

DeRozan may have spent nine seasons getting used to Toronto. But now, he’s found his best form in San Antonio.

Let’s discuss some of the substance behind DeRozan’s hot start with the Spurs.

His Offensive Numbers Are Better Than Ever

Nobody could’ve predicted this type of offense success so early on for DeRozan in San Antonio. His 36.3 points per 100 possessions is the second-best mark of his career. His assists per 100 possessions (8.9) is easily a career high — his previous high was 7.4 in 2017-18, and his best before that was 5.7

The production hasn’t come at the cost of efficiency, either. DeRozan’s mark of 3.1 turnovers per 100 possessions is tied for his lowest mark since 2013-14.

And his true-shooting percentage is 58.4, which is a career high. It’s also 2.6 percentage points above the current league average in that stat. He hasn’t been more than one percentage point above the NBA’s average true-shooting percentage since his rookie year in 2009-10. And obviously, he played a much more basic offensive role then.

That’s a lot of numbers that combine to tell just one very basic story. DeRozan has killed it so far on the offensive end.

But why? Let’s break down his utilization in the Spurs’ offense.

How Are the Spurs Using Him?

San Antonio has DeRozan essentially running point guard with its current roster. Other players will occasionally bring up the ball, but DeRozan greases the wheels of the offense with his slashing.

In that way, his role isn’t too different from his final Raptors season, when he and Kyle Lowry were co-primary ball-handlers. However, with less playmaking talent around him in San Antonio, the Spurs are letting DeRozan do even more creating for himself and others.

DeRozan is the Spurs’ best perimeter scorer by a mile. But he’s also “maybe the best passer on our team,” according to Popovich, per ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. And with all due respect to Mr. Popovich, the “maybe” is unnecessary.

San Antonio is not a high-volume three-point shooting team, but it is making sure to space the floor when DeRozan is playing. In order, the Spurs star guard has seen the most minutes together with the following players: LaMarcus Aldridge, Bryn Forbes, Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, Dante Cunningham, Marco Belinelli, Davis Bertans and Pau Gasol.

Aldridge is hesitant from behind the arc, but he still commands attention in a variety of locations with his overall scoring expertise. The other seven guys will freely fire away from three-point range when open. They’re also a combined 41.2 percent shooting from downtown so far this season.

The Spurs run all sorts of actions to get DeRozan quality scoring and playmaking opportunities. One high screen play they like to run is where Aldridge screens DeRozan toward the side where two shooters are spotting up. Then, DeRozan snakes back to the opposite side with his defender still on his back and a big man backpedaling in front of him.

On that opposite side, a shooter slides from the corner to the wing as his defender watches DeRozan slash to the hole. Drive, dish, three points for Belinelli and the Spurs.

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San Antonio also likes getting DeRozan the ball off a zipper cut from one of the bigs and then using the other big to immediately set a screen for him. They can use just the one pick or have the screen-setter flip his screen to get DeRozan an opening.

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They can also get for DeMar on the wing with a defender on his back using Iverson cuts.

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The Spurs have a few different ways to get him isolated on one side of the floor with the ball in the post. San Antonio likes using them when it can get DeMar posting up on a smaller or weaker defender. He’s very good at spinning baseline to make things happen.

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And when the Spurs have established where they want to DeRozan to get the ball, he can also catch the defense off guard with basket cuts.

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Variety has been the name of the game for DeRozan’s offensive utilization so far. The above clips are just a small taste of how the Spurs are setting him up for success.

With DeRozan’s explosive leaping ability, nifty footwork and soft touch around the rim, he’s obviously scoring a bunch. But the above clips and his excellent assist-to-turnover ratio also show that he’s making other good reads, too.

How Is His Defense?

DeRozan will never be a great defender. He’s in his 10th year and still hasn’t established himself as a positive on that end. His lateral quickness is below-average for a wing, he makes mental errors and often just struggles with effort.

That said, he’s been passable with the Spurs so far, especially considering his huge offensive load.

His worth on defense comes mainly in the form of his anticipation and rebounding rather as opposed to on-ball excellence. DeRozan has 21 deflections and 17 loose-ball recoveries this season, which puts him 22nd or better in the NBA in both categories. His 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per 100 possessions are both the second-best marks of his career.

In the impact side of things, his Defensive Player Impact Plus-Minus is an encouraging plus-0.4 right now, though it’s still very early in the season.

The Bottom Line

DeRozan has been a godsend for San Antonio this season. The Spurs sorely lacked perimeter creation in 2017-18 and had to rely on a stout defense and LaMarcus Aldridge bailing them out on offense.

The team’s defense is predictably worse with all the offseason losses and injuries. But DeRozan is reason 1A that the Spurs are eighth offensively at the moment. Plus, his defense hasn’t been terrible.

The Popovich/DeRozan marriage has progressed perfectly through nine games. Let’s see if both parties can continue to succeed with each other as the Spurs try to keep their postseason streak alive.

Notes: All video clips are from NBA.com and the FreeDawkins and Gogli Mogli YouTube accounts. Statistics are from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com

Credit to site founder Cranjis McBasketball (@T1m_NBA) for assisting in breaking down the Spurs’ plays and Aidan Lising (@aidanlising) for the title graphic.