In news that surprised nobody, DeMar DeRozan has made it official and has opted out of his current contract with the Toronto Raptors.
The 26-year-old had a player option worth $9.5 million for the 2016-17 season. The announcement comes as no surprise as DeRozan is expected to command a max-level deal in the free agent market.
There has been constant chatter about DeRozan going home to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, as he is from Compton, California.
DeMar DeRozan: A Hot Commodity
The Raptors signed DeRozan to a four-year, $38-million deal that kicked in at the start of the 2013-14 season, and DeRozan has earned more than the expected annual salary by triggering incentive clauses. At the time, the deal looked like an unnecessary, or at least early, risk on the part of Bryan Colangelo, but DeRozan’s ascension to All-Star status soon made it look like a bargain.
With the cap sky-rocketing and DeRozan established as a major scoring threat, he’s set to make substantially more. Again, whether or not DeRozan “is a max player,” he’s going to have max offers. The questions for the Raptors are whether they’re willing to pay that max for him and whether he’s willing to sign for a little less to stay.
The Raptors, however, can give DeRozan just under $40 million more over five years instead of four.
Raptors Focused On Re-signing DeRozan
General manager Masai Ujiri says getting DeRozan back in Toronto next year and beyond is No. 1 on his priority list this summer.
“Our number one goal is to bring DeMar back here,” said Ujiri at the year-end news conference after the Raptors were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers. “We feel great that he wants to come back to our organization.”
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