USC Basketball: One-And-Done Trojan Among Preseason Favorites For Jerry West Award

With time running out, just give him the ball!

The NBA season's preseason oddsmakers have been staying busy anticipating which players will win some major awards to end the year

Among those in the running for the Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award, former USC swingman DeMar DeRozan opens the preseason on the shortlist of names bettors can put stake into. 

The forward has always been a pure bucket getter no matter where he's gone in his basketball journey. 

Whether it be the sunshine of California, the cold winters of Toronto, the River Walk of San Antonio, the Windy City of Chicago or even rec leagues during the summer, the soon-to-be-34-year-old DeRozan has always put the ball in the basket at any destination. 

NBA commissioner Adam Silver introduced the Jerry West Award last season and the inaugural winner of the trophy was Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox in their improbable playoff run as the third seed in the West. 

DeRozan has an outside shot to be the second winner of the new award though some stark competition stands in the path of such a goal. 

Current favorite at +1000 for the award is Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who led Oklahoma City's own turnaround after some lackluster seasons for the young team. 

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic lags not far behind Gilgeous-Alexander at +1200 after a disappointing season with Kyrie Irving saw the young Slovenian sensation miss the playoffs.

DeRozan, a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA Teamer, is no stranger to clutch buckets as his 2022 season featured some of his greatest hits in this regard. 

In both nights of a back-to-back, DeRozan made consecutive buzzer beating shots to beat both the Pacers and Wizards to both end the 2021 calendar year and ring in 2022 in improbable fashion. 

Emulating those heroics from year's past will help the Dwyane Wade inspired former Trojan superstar for another award in his already storied career.