After shipping Grievis Vasquez to the Milwaukee Bucks on draft night and with Lou Williams and Amir Johnson entering the free agent market, GM Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors find themselves with potentially enough cap space this summer to offer a max contract while keeping their current core in place.
But it won’t be that simple for Ujiri, who may have to hold on to a good portion of those bucks should he want to keep his current core in place. Or at least perhaps its biggest piece.
That’s because DeMar DeRozan is entering the final year of his current deal and, as mentioned in the Toronto Sun, “whispers continue to circulate” around the Raptors organization that DeRozan and his agent will seek the league’s new maximum salary — $25 million — when the all-star shooting guard becomes a free agent next summer.
DeRozan will earn $9.5 million in 2015-16, with a player option for the same amount the following season. It’s a bargain contract for someone of DeRozan’s calibre, and it’s highly unlikely that he would leave millions on the table to pick up his option for 2016-17.
When I spent time with DeRozan last summer for this Sportsnet magazine profile, he had maintained that he wished to stay in Toronto for the long-term, and will expectedly give the Raptors first crack at retaining his services. While it’s unclear what kind of interest DeRozan draws on the market as a max player, there will be no shortage of suitors for his services.
He is represented by Aaron Goodwin and Goodwin Sports, who are likely to seek a similar contract for another one of its marquee clients, Portland Trail-Blazers guard Damian Lillard.
DeRozan, drafted ninth overall by ex-Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo in 2009, has improved every year he’s gotten into the league, becoming a more reliable defender and shooter — though those remain the biggest knocks on his game — and is a matchup nightmare for opposing guards due to his ability to operate out of the high-post and create contact to get to the foul line.
Over the past two seasons, DeRozan has averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 44 per cent from the field and 82 per cent from the free throw line.
Last year he suffered the first long-term injury of his career, sidelining him for nearly two months. The Raptors went 12-9 without him.
The NBA signed a whopping new $24 billion (yes, with a ‘b’) television deal last year, and the salary cap will subsequently rise next summer as a result.
