The Lakers’ bitter cross-town rivals, the LA Clippers, are reportedly also in the running in the DeRozan bidding war. The same goes for the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, and his current team, the Spurs, making it a five-horse race. This is according to NBA insider Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
More on DeMar DeRozan Free Agency
Tom Orsborn: DeMar on @ClubShayShay about possibly returning home to play for the Lakers: "I mean growing up, you can't ask no kid if they want to play home, they’ll say no. At some point, you definitely want that opportunity, especially if they want you. Why not? It's a great opportunity."
Tom Orsborn: DeMar when asked on @ClubShayShay what he'll be looking for as a FA: "It's all about winning, going into my 13th season, seeing all these guys competing for a championship...I've been fortunate to make a lot of $, but the ultimate goal is to always compete for a championship."
The Los Angeles Lakers are pursuing a third stellar player who provides playmaking and shot creation around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, sources said. The Lakers are expected to show interest in several free agents such as Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Spencer Dinwiddie, according to sources, but another scenario has gained some traction.
DeRozan, who starred at Compton High and USC, has interest in returning home to play for the Lakers, even if it is for less than the $27.7 million he earned last season in San Antonio, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
“It’s a very average free-agent group for unrestricted free agents,” said one Western Conference executive. “For example, there is no KD or a Giannis. The best guys are DeRozan, Lowly and Conley. But if some guys opt out of their contracts and become unrestricted free agents, then that changes things.”
“I’ve never been in this situation before in my career, to be going completely in as a free agent,” said DeRozan, who made $27.7 million this season. “I have no clue (what to expect). It hasn’t been something I’ve thought about or that I can sit up here and say I’ve got options.”
Jeff Garcia: DeRozan says he's not thinking about free agency, that he's thinking about the loss right now, and keeping the young players heads up #gospursgo
If New York decides to aggressively pitch a premier free agent this offseason, DeRozan would seem to fit the mold of a player receptive to Thibodeau's culture. The Spurs' swingman is believed to have an interest in returning to the Eastern Conference, sources said, and there is plenty of scoring opportunity open in the Knicks' rotation.
A source with knowledge of DeRozan’s outlook said he’ll be taking a “wide open” approach to free agency in terms of possible landing spots. But after these past three seasons in San Antonio, where he was asked to sacrifice on the scoring front and evolve as a playmaker in the process, the master of the midrange has put himself in prime position to take advantage of this well-earned reputation as a more versatile offensive threat.
Mark Berman: NBA sources confirm #Rockets parting ways w/ DeMarcus Cousins via trade or releasing him. Rockets guaranteed his salary b/c management appreciates his professionalism & how he went about his business. Rockets want to do right by free agents they sign. @Shams Charania reported 1st
Chris Haynes: San Antonio Spurs star DeMar DeRozan has informed the franchise that he is opting into his $27.7 million player option for the 2020-21 season, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Bobby Marks: Monday deadline for player options Anthony Davis: $28.8M DeMar DeRozan: $27.7M Mike Conley Jr. : $34.5M Evan Fournier: $17.0M Robin Lopez : $5.0M Nic Batum: $27.1M Tony Snell: $12.2M Stanley Johnson: $3.8M Wesley Matthews : $2.7M My guess is we go 7/9 on opt-in
The Athletic granted anonymity to 20 player representatives so they could speak freely about the league's handling of the Orlando bubble, free agency and front offices. One agent, asked to name the highest profile player they expected to change teams, mentioned the Spurs star. "DeMar doesn't like San Antonio and doesn't want to be there," the agent said.
The agent noted that DeRozan could reunite with former Raptors teammate Fred VanVleet and coach Dwane Casey in Detroit, where Casey leads the Pistons. "That relationship with the former coach is strong. Comes down to money (for VanVleet) and the situation in Toronto is rough with the taxes. VanVleet on the Pistons elevates his status as the number 1-2 guy on a team," the agent said.
Tom Orsborn: DeMar DeRozan said he hasn't thought about his contract situation: "With everything that’s going on, it’s hard to even know what tomorrow is going to bring, honestly. So, you got to worry about the moment that you are in." #Spurs
Paul Garcia: DeMar DeRozan was asked if his upcoming player option came into his decision to resume play: "I never think about the next year." "For me, it's about the times we're living in" - dealing with Covid and racial injustice he said.
But DeRozan is more likely to opt in with the Spurs. Among the likely free agents, there aren’t any five-alarm guys, but I do think Evan Fournier has a bit of a warning flag attached. He’s coming off a career year at 27 that featured shooting percentages far above his career norms, so he’s likely to regress. That would have a rebuilding Knicks team buying into a declining commodity. I have him projected at a $12.5 million value next season and likely to go further downward from there, and he’s going to get way more than that if he chooses free agency. (Fournier has a player option for $17.1 million.) He’s not a bad player, but he’s the wrong one for a team like the Knicks.
Shams Charania: New player option dates for 2020 NBA free agency: Anthony Davis: Oct. 14 Gordon Hayward: Oct. 17 DeMar DeRozan: Oct. 17 Mike Conley Jr.: Oct. 17 Andre Drummond: Oct. 17
In a recent episode of ESPN San Antonio’s “The Blitz”, Young expressed that DeRozan could possibly be leaving the Spurs this summer. “I don’t have to sugarcoat anything. DeMar DeRozan is not happy in San Antonio,” Jabari Young said. “The offense is not running smoothly as one should think with a guy like him in the lineup. There are problems. They’re not winning. They don’t look like they enjoy playing with each other. The roster just doesn’t fit”
Matthew Tynan: DeMar DeRozan calls out news of him planning on opting out untrue. Not that it will or won’t happen, just not the case right now. “I said that? So it’s a rumor? Did my Mama say that?”
In a recent episode of ESPN San Antonio’s “The Blitz”, Young expressed that DeRozan could possibly be leaving the Spurs this summer. “I don’t have to sugarcoat anything. DeMar DeRozan is not happy in San Antonio,” Jabari Young said. “The offense is not running smoothly as one should think with a guy like him in the lineup. There are problems. They’re not winning. They don’t look like they enjoy playing with each other. The roster just doesn’t fit”
Matthew Tynan: DeMar DeRozan calls out news of him planning on opting out untrue. Not that it will or won’t happen, just not the case right now. “I said that? So it’s a rumor? Did my Mama say that?”
If swingman DeMar DeRozan and the San Antonio Spurs can’t agree to an extension by the late June deadline, the four-time All-Star intends to decline his $27.7 million player option for next season to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources told Yahoo Sports. DeRozan, who has averaged 20 points in his 11-year career, would be among the top players on the market this summer. DeRozan declining his option wouldn’t close the door on him re-signing with the Spurs, sources said, but it would definitely open an avenue for a team like the New York Knicks, who are expected to be interested.
Asked about the report after the game, a smiling DeRozan played coy. “Who reported it? Did my Mama say it?," DeRozan said. "Don’t listen to it then.” DeRozan's future will continue to be a topic of speculation going forward. He is the Spurs' leader in scoring at 22.3 points and in assists at 5.5 per game, and is shooting a career best 5.5 assists.
According to the latest rumbles, San Antonio and DeRozan aren’t particularly close to a deal. But there is no looming deadline for veteran extensions like DeRozan’s — extension talks can go all the way up to June 30 as opposed to Monday’s deadline for rookie-scale deals — and the Spurs have lots to think about here.
The Spurs would prefer to do a short-term extension if they grant one, given DeRozan’s age (30) and the fact that they have some good guards in the program (Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes and Lonnie Walker IV) who are likely to only keep expanding their roles. DeRozan undoubtedly wants a longer-term extension in exchange for sacrificing his free agency.
A source with knowledge of the situation says the Spurs and DeRozan have continued to discuss a possible extension, but the two sides remain quite a ways apart. (As our Shams Charania recently reported, a max extension for DeRozan would be four years, $150 million; a deal can be agreed upon up until the start of free agency). For San Antonio’s purposes, a two-year deal would be preferable as a way to maintain future flexibility while securing a player in DeRozan, who – if he opts out – would be the best wing scorer on the market. If the 30-year-old DeRozan picks up the option, however, he could reap the benefits of a 2021 summer in which the cap is expected to spike to approximately $125 million (looming China factor notwithstanding).
Tom Orsborn: DeMar on his contract situation: "Man, I just want to hoop. My whole career I never even once had that play on my mind...That's never been my focus...However it unfolds, that's how it is supposed to unfold."
DeRozan may have grown up idolizing his hometown’s most glamorous franchise. He may have grown up admiring Kobe Bryant, imitating his moves and later dubbing him “the top five greatest player of all time.” Yet, DeRozan refused to compromise the same affection he has for the Raptors after they selected him ninth overall in the 2009 NBA draft. “When you have an opportunity to go home, that’s something that certainly would cross your mind. But it wasn’t anything,” DeRozan told Southern California News Group. “After I finish playing, I’m pretty sure I’ll live in L.A. But I just wanted to do something special and leave a legacy of my own in Toronto.”
Sirius XM NBA: Masai Ujiri: "DeMar DeRozan is a special kid, loyal & someone who has done a lot for this organization." Masai Ujiri on our set from @NBASummerLeague
Marc Stein: So according to that last tweet from my pal @MarcJSpears, your most current estimate on the DeMar DeRozan deal is five years, $145 million.
Sam Amick: DeMar DeRozan has decided to re-sign with the Toronto Raptors, @USATODAYsports has learned. Terms not finalized.
Shams Charania: DeMar DeRozan has agreed to a five-year, $139 million-plus deal with Toronto, sources tell The Vertical.
Michael Grange: The Raptors meeting with DeRozan tomorrow as per @Chris Haynes; if needed Mavs, Sixers; Heat & Lakers will meet, according to sources.
Chris Haynes: Toronto granted first meeting with DeMar DeRozan in LA on July 1, sources tell @clevelanddotcom. Miami, Dallas, Philly, Lakers could follow.
Similarly Aaron Goodwin – DeRozan’s longtime agent – isn’t known as a Scott Boras type, who’s looking to extract every last dollar and willing to use every conceivable ounce of leverage to do so. When the Raptors were negotiating the four-year extension with DeRozan, Goodwin ultimately put the decision in his client’s hands, according to sources, recognizing that in the end it would be the player, not him, who would be living and working under the terms of the deal. And it’s important to note that the Raptors have a considerable advantage in being able to offer DeRozan the best deal. They can pay him the aforementioned $153 million over five years while any other team can only offer $114 million over four.
As for DeRozan, he has plenty of options on hold as well. The Lakers, who could wind up getting a meeting with DeRozan, in part, because he still resides there during the summer, are widely known to be very interested in making him part of their young core. The Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, and Orlando Magic are also hoping to lure him stateside.
The good news, for DeRozan and the Raptors, is that Biyombo wants to come back. According to a person with knowledge of his situation, he will be patient as Toronto works things out with DeRozan as its top priority. Biyombo will have no shortage of suitors should the Raptors blink long enough to lose DeRozan, but there will be no immediate rush to seize the speediest deal.
Should DeRozan be willing to shave some off the top of his salary as a way to help Biyombo stay on board, as it seems he possibly will, then there is a very real interest on Biyombo’s part of making it all work. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the situation.
William Justin Carr: Steve... Theoretically LAL could have room for 1 Max Player next season if LAL sign Whiteside and DeRozan THIS offseason? - Steve Kyler: DeMar DeRozan not likely taking meeting - his first goal is to re-sign with the Raptors.
Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan does not plan to schedule meetings with other teams at the start of free agency, opting to focus on working out a contract to return to the Eastern Conference finalists, a source told ESPN.com.
The Raptors can offer DeRozan a five-year maximum contract worth $153 million with the salary cap at a projected $94 million. Other teams would be able to offer him a max deal of $114 million over four years. Toronto's decision-makers have made it clear that re-signing DeRozan, a southern California native whose name was often linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in speculation about this summer, is their top offseason priority.
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri updated the status of DeRozan in a guest appearance on Dean Blundell & Co., Thursday morning. “We’re nowhere because right now we cant (talk),” Ujiri told hosts Joey Vendetta and George Rusic on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “Everything stops until July 1. So we’re still in the same place we were at the end of the season. We talked and had a good exit meeting. I will fly down to see DeMar at some point in the next couple of weeks to have a good chat with him and we’ll go from there.”
Chris Haynes: Raptors G DeMar DeRozan has officially opted out and is a free agent, league sources informed @clevelanddotcom. His deadline was June 15.
The Hawks’ number one priority is to bring back Horford, Kent Bazemore and possibly Kris Humphries as unrestricted free agents. They will also need to figure out their point guard situation - which means an almost assured trade of either Jeff Teague or Dennis Schroder. Those are the likely scenarios. However, there is a chance the Hawks could shoot for the stars and line up Horford with another max player such as Kevin Durant or DeMar DeRozan – likely the three players on the market who will get max deals.
Eric Pincus: DeMar DeRozan's option decision date is 6/15/16 w/Toronto Raptors @BBallInsiders
If the Raptors were to release the cap holds of free agents Luis Scola, Jason Thompson and James Johnson, Toronto would still be $1.5 million over the cap. The Raptors would certainly need to sacrifice one of their core players to create room. DeRozan’s $15 million cap hold has Toronto right at the cap. Biyombo, who has made $14.3 million in his career, could earn that in the first year of his new contract.
With $69 million in guaranteed contracts, the Raptors are currently over the salary cap based on $28 million in free-agent holds, including DeRozan’s $15 million cap hold. If Toronto were to release the holds on free agents Scola, Johnson and Thompson, and leave the No. 26 pick in the draft in Europe, the Raptors still would be over the cap.
Noah Coslov: From @KevinDing with us @br_radio on #Lakers: “There’s a lot of presumption about Derozan and I’m told the Lakers aren’t that high on him"
Holly MacKenzie: Masai Ujiri on DeMar DeRozan: "I spoke to him yesterday and his eyes were still red. You could tell, he said he felt empty the next day. Which was telling. Speaking to him and Kyle, they almost felt like we had a game to play still, and that game is not there. There's that hunger, and you like that, and then now, its my part to figure it out."
Eric Koreen: "We want to bring them back," Masai says of DeMar and Biyombo. "Sometimes those things are difficult or challenging."
James Herbert: Masai Ujiri: “Our No. 1 goal is to bring DeMar back here.”
Josh Lewenberg: Masai on bringing everyone back: "I dont know how possible that is... Some of the things are more difficult than others"
As the NBA enters it’s bubble economy phase (the salary cap is expected to rise by more than $20 million this season and another $20 million the following year) DeRozan will be offered a maximum contract by at least one team – four years and roughly $107 million – and probably more. The NBA grapevine is rife with intelligence saying that his hometown Lakers will offer him the moon. No one would be surprised if Bryan Colangelo – the man who drafted him – will try to lure him to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Josh Lewenberg: Obviously a lot can change in a month but DeRozan does not sound like someone who has any intention of going elsewhere
DeMar DeRozan's days in the six might be numbered ... that's according to his best friend and former teammate, Romeo Miller, who says he knows where DeRozan is headed ... and he strongly suggests it's L.A. We got Romeo out at The Grove and asked him about DeMar ... who will be one of the most coveted free agents of the NBA off-season.
Romeo would be the guy to ask ... he and DeRozan have been best friends for years, growing up together and playing college ball at USC. Check out the clip ... it's been reported DeMar wants to bolt the north for L.A. and Romeo adds to that fire ... hinting STRONGLY that he knows the Lakers are the right spot for his best pal.
"I feel like I have nothing to worry about," DeRozan said of his pending free agency. "I take it day by day, whatever happens. I’m not even looking towards then. I’m thinking about the next game and trying to figure out that."
The timing couldn't have been worse for DeRozan or the Raptors. With an Eastern Conference finals trip within their grasp, the team's All-Star shooting guard now has difficulty simply tying his shoe. "I’ve never been one of those guys to be like, ‘Why? Why did this happen, or why'd it happen now?’ It’s part of the game. You’ve got to take the good with the bad sometimes," DeRozan told The Vertical after Miami defeated Toronto 94-87 in overtime to even the series at two games each. "I’m going to fight through it, deal with it and go from there with it. I’ve got a whole summer to let it heal and figure itself out."
DeRozan (Raptors), Durant (Thunder) and LeBron (Cavaliers) are still under contract with other NBA teams, and they will be until July 1. Johnson is a Lakers Vice President. That’s clearly tampering. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, an employee of an NBA team can’t permissibly “induce, persuade, or attempt to entice, induce or persuade, any Player who is under contract to, or whose exclusive negotiating rights are held by, any other Member of the Association to enter into negotiations for or relating to his services or negotiate or contract for such services.” Johnson often doesn’t sound like a Lakers executive, and the role is probably ceremonial. But Drake got the Raptors fined for recruiting Durant. Drake obviously isn’t integral to Toronto’s basketball operations. But he holds a title – Global Brand Ambassador – with the team. Why wouldn’t the same rule apply to Johnson?
The conversation starter is a max offer and that probably won't be enough to pry him away from Toronto - where he has won three straight division titles - or the potential suitor in L.A. - where he was born and raised. The Knicks are working with hydrogen bombs. Not plutonium. Remember.
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors: FA age: 26 | Salary: $9.5 million. Insider info: Will opt out of his current contract. He’s in the prime of his career. Has full Bird rights and Toronto can sign him to the projected max of $25 million per year. Strong chance he will be in a Raptors uniform next season.
Eastern Conference All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan says it will be "pretty tough" for interested teams to steal him away from the Raptors in free agency this summer. "My whole mindset has always been this is home for me," DeRozan said in an interview that will air in full on Saturday's Meet the All-Stars show on ESPN Radio at 5:30 p.m. "I never think otherwise unless it's brought up to me, or you see things, or people ask you about certain things. This has always been home to me. I took pride in putting on this Toronto Raptors jersey since I've been drafted here. And my whole goal was to get this team to the point where it is now. And I feel I've been a major key to that."
"He will be a free agent," Lowry told ESPN Radio. "That's the best thing for him to do. And for me as a friend, as a friend, and what he did for me during my free agency, I'll do the same thing. I will just listen and sit back. I won't give him no advice, and I won't push him anywhere. Because, as a friend, friendship comes before basketball, and that's my guy. Wherever he makes a decision to go -- and I'm hoping it's back here, which I think it's gonna be -- I won't push him or persuade him or anything. I'll just say: 'Hey, listen, bro. I'm here to listen to you.'"
He's read the tweets, as you might expect, and knows there are people out there that are making the 'contract year' implication. Does it surprise him? Nothing does, not anymore. His message to those folks: "Obviously you haven't been paying attention to me and how I've worked every single year of my career," he said. "And that's just me as a person. That just shows me at the end of the day nobody really knows who you are inside. As long as I know who I am inside. It's not about the money, it's not about this, it's about me wanting to be better every single year. I don't care if it's contract year or if I sign a deal for 20 years. It don't matter to me. Every single year, as long as I can run up and down the floor, I'm going to continue to get better."
Toronto is the NBA's fourth-largest market but playing in Canada has always meant dealing with a certain amount of obscurity that suits DeRozan just fine. The Raptors have been his only team in seven seasons, and DeRozan would like that to remain the case after he opts out of the final year of his four-year, $40 million contract and becomes a free agent this summer. Based on his All-Star caliber play through the first few months of this season, DeRozan will have no shortage of suitors, but Toronto can pay more than any other team – and DeRozan has taken to the place. “Toronto is all I’ve known, honestly. I came in, 19, everything was completely new for me. I appreciated the support, the love,” DeRozan, 26, told Yahoo. “I treated it like home since then.”
“One thing I never did was look at anybody else, what they did or what they followed, honestly,” DeRozan told Yahoo. “I always stuck to what I believe in and what I’m comfortable with. If I see a hundred people walking left, that don’t necessarily mean I’m going to walk left. I may see this clear path and want to stay right.” DeRozan has an advantage over his ship-jumping predecessors because the Raptors have never appeared more stable. They have one of the league's most well-regarded general managers in Masai Ujiri and a coach in Dwane Casey who has led the team to a franchise-record number of wins in each of the past two seasons. And DeRozan also has an all-star backcourt mate in Kyle Lowry, a good friend with whom he has formed an uncanny connection on the floor.
“My whole goal was to get us out of that light and become a winning team, a winning organization. From going to winning 20-someting games, to winning our division, franchise-record wins, that’s something you can definitely be happy for,” DeRozan told Yahoo. “It’s amazing to see how far it came. I remember [Toronto] being just a hockey town.” Having already outperformed the extension he received after his rookie deal expired, DeRozan cracked a smile when reminded of the criticism he received at the time. DeRozan made the All-Star team in the first year that his deal kicked in, quickly going from risky signing to underpaid bargain. “I just remember all the negativity and whatever came with it, then all a sudden, it’s like, ‘Aw, you should’ve waited,’ ” DeRozan told Yahoo. “Honestly, I could’ve signed for $500 million at that point, I still would’ve have had that hunger to want to get better and try to improve, and I feel I have to prove so much.”
That starts with DeRozan, a lock to decline his option and hit free agency this summer. A bunch of teams, including DeRozan's hometown Lakers, are prepared to offer him a max deal starting at $25 million per season, and the Raptors know they will have to spend big to keep him.
Ujiri also has to decide if Casey is the coach he wants, though both Lowry and DeRozan endorsed Casey's return in separate interviews with ESPN.com. "The grass ain't always greener," Lowry says. "I want him back, but it's not my decision."
“That’s one you thing you can never question: my loyalty to the city,” DeRozan told host Joey Vendetta on the Jeff Blair Show. “How much I really love and appreciate the team and the organization. I think all the fans understand that. A lot of times they don’t understand how contracts or things like that. But I’ve always stressed that this is where I want to be my whole career.”
“A new contract is what DeMar is going for and we feel we have a good shot,” Raptors GM Masai Ujiri said Thursday evening on Prime Time Sports. “This is his team, this is a team that he knows very well, loves the city, is well-loved here, and we can offer him a year extra. There are so many things, so we feel comfortable.”
While his hometown Lakers surely will be one of those suitors — they long have had interest in the swingman — DeRozan has always been fiercely loyal to the organization that drafted him, paid him what at the time was considered above market value on an extension (eventually it became one of the shrewdest bargains of then general manager Bryan Colangelo’s career) and made him the face of the franchise. He loves the city and the fanbase arguably much more than Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter or Chris Bosh ever did.
NetsDaily: Who do Nets like as FAs? DeRozan, but also Nicolas Batum, Mike Conley Jr, Evan Turner. Don't be surprised to see J.P. Vaulet in Brooklyn.
He loves the city and the fanbase arguably much more than Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter or Chris Bosh ever did. “I think I’m just excited for being in Toronto and people really getting a chance to see what Toronto is like,” DeRozan said Thursday after practice about his thoughts on the upcoming all-star weekend in T.O. “The city, the culture, really, to put us on the main stage and let this city get the credit that it deserves that I feel like it never got.”
The Nets will have about $40 million in cap space this summer, and they got an up-close look Wednesday at one of their primary expected targets: DeMar DeRozan. The Toronto shooting guard had 15 points, five assists, four boards and two steals in the Raptors’ 91-74 win at Barclays Center. He has a player option worth just more than $10 million for next season, but a source close to DeRozan told The Post that he will opt out, becoming a free agent. But that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be a Net, or anything other than a Raptor.
“I can tell you he’ll opt out. But how he feels about Brooklyn — or anybody else — I can’t say. Only he can answer that,’’ said the source, who added that DeRozan feels he’s been treated well by the Raptors and “has a trait that’s been lost by so many players. It’s called loyalty.”
It’s safe to say that if DeRozan had waited and signed a deal in restricted free agency the following summer (he averaged 18.1 points and 44.5 percent shooting that season), he would have been given a juicier contract. He made the Eastern Conference All-Star team the following year, and even if his efficiency has never returned, the shooting guard has more than made good on the Raptors' commitment. “I don’t regret anything,” DeRozan told Sporting News on Friday. “Everything happens for a reason, man. This is the place I wanted to be, so that’s where I wanted to be. I never second-guessed or thought twice about anything.”
Yet, DeRozan seemed taken aback by the line of questioning. He said he had not even thought about his likely free agency, which is hard to believe. Who could ignore the prospect of a giant raise? A few days removed from the queries, he got at the truth of the issue. “I hate that, honestly,” DeRozan said in a one-on-one interview. “I never speak about it. With me, I’ve always been that one player: I’ve been loyal. I’ve been every single thing you can think of here. I think people don’t understand how much pride I take in playing (in Toronto). A lot of times when I do get asked that, it kind of frustrates me. “Everyday I wake up, I take pride in being the longest Raptor here. People bring up third or whatever in franchise scoring — there is so much stuff like that.”
To be even eligible for an extension, DeRozan would have to decide to opt in to the final year of his current deal, a contract that woefully underpays him at about $10,050,000 next year, AFTER the new TV money kicks in and the cap goes up to north of $90 million. Unless he and his agent both suffer “episodes” that render them nincompoops, that ain’t happening. And if it did – and it won’t – under terms of the CBA, DeRozan would only be eligible for a two-year extension past 2016-17 with maximum annual raises of 7.5 per cent per year.
Ryan Wolstat: DeRozan said he hasn't given any thought to new contract or possible final year with Raptors. Just going to play
