The Toronto Raptors have agreed to re-sign unrestricted free agent shooting guard DeMar DeRozan to a contract worth as much as $145 million over 5 years. The contract cannot be officially be signed until the end of the NBA’s moratorium period end on July 7th.
Shams Charania of The Vertical first originally reported the deal to be worth over $139 million early Friday morning:
DeMar DeRozan has agreed to a five-year, $139 million-plus deal with Toronto, sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2016
However, Marc J. Spears of ESPN later reported that the structure of the deal is still being worked out, and will likely pay DeRozan an average of $29 million per year over the five-year span. That would mean that the contract is worth $145 million in total.
Report: DeMar DeRozan Agrees to Re-sign with Toronto Raptors
DeRozan’s contract will take him through the end of the 2020-21 season. No player or team options in the deal have been reported yet.
The 6-7, 210 pound shooting guard is entering his eighth season in the NBA. DeRozan has spent the first seven seasons of his career with Toronto. He was the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. During that time, he has earned two All-Star appearances. Even though last season was statistically his best season as a professional, he did seem to take a step back in the playoffs. But that was a small sample size, and he still helped lead the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals before being knocked out by the eventual champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the 2015-16 season, DeRozan averaged 23.5 points, 4.0 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game. He did this while shooting 33.8 percent from the three-point arc and an overall field goal percentage of 44.6. During the playoffs, those numbers dipped to a field goal percentage of 39.4 and just 15.4 percent from deep. The strongest part of DeRozan’s game, though, is his ability to drive to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. DeRozan ranked third in the entire league in free-throw attempts and second in makes last season. He also was first in two-point field goal attempts.
DeRozan will look to come out and prove that he is ready to take this team to the next level and bring a championship to “The North” next season. He is one of the top five shooting guards in the league. It was never a question of “if” the Raptors would re-sign him, but “when”. DeRozan signed for less than his maximum of $153 million over five years. This could allow the Raptors to spend the money on another free agent, showing DeRozan’s true commitment to winning. It is clear that the Raptors are looking to build off of their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and improve upon it.
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