For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors were able to re-sign a homegrown All-Star in unrestricted free agency.
The Toronto Raptors were able to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history this season, and a large part of that was due to the stellar play from All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan.
While there was some speculation that he would test the free agent market, and possibly consider playing for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers as the heir to Kobe Bryant, The Vertical has reported that DeRozan has agreed to a five-year deal with Toronto for $139 million.
According to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears, that number may be in the $145 million range:
So according to that last tweet from my pal @MarcJSpears, your most current estimate on the DeMar DeRozan deal is five years, $145 million.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2016
DeRozan had the best year of his career last season averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the floor and 33.8 percent from three.
The contract itself cannot be signed until July 7, which leaves the Raptors with a few days to try and maneuver salary to potentially sign another free agent while DeRozan only possesses a cap hold of $15 million.
Full max was $153 ... Raps save about $2.5-million/year in cap space going forward; DeRozan gets very, very rich. https://t.co/BVLIhBLGAA
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) July 1, 2016
A likely candidate for a cost-cutting move that would open up options in free agency would be moving Terrence Ross, whose three year contract worth $33 million seems like a poor allocation of funds on a Raptors team that has DeRozan as well as the emerging Norman Powell.
This move provides the Raptors with stability and keeps their All-Star duo together at least for another year, with the opt-out of Kyle Lowry looming at the end of the 2016-17 season.
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DeRozan will turn 27 this summer, leaving plenty of reason to believe that his best days could still be ahead of him. The maximum he could have signed for over five years would have been $153 million, but through negotiations he agreed to leave just shy of $3 million per season on the table (according to The Vertical’s reported figure).