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NBA: The Best 2016 Free Agent For Every Team

By Ryan Blackburn

May 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view of the Air Canada Centre prior to Indiana Pacers playing Toronto Raptors in game seven of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
May 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A general view of the Air Canada Centre prior to Indiana Pacers playing Toronto Raptors in game seven of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dribbles away from Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) in game seven of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
May 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) dribbles away from Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) in game seven of the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Toronto Raptors – DeMar DeRozan

Currently struggling with the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs, DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors have a choice to make this offseason.

A max contract to DeMar DeRozan implies that the Raptors are currently happy with the direction that the franchise is going, and maybe they are. They just got out of the first round for the first time during DeRozan’s seven seasons with the franchise, but a more telling number would be his inefficiencies in the postseason.

DeRozan’s averages in postseason play: 20.8 points per game on 36.5 percent shooting from the field and 27.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Ouch.

Those are not numbers that any sane franchise would tether themselves to if given a second option, but letting DeRozan walk would also not be smart. Toronto needs him to recruit other free agents as well, and Kyle Lowry has been equally bad as the second option on the roster, as he hasn’t shot above 40 percent from the field in his last nine games in a row, an NBA record.

The Raptors are caught in middling efficiency, and it isn’t going to get much better in all likelihood with the aforementioned duo. DeRozan is now 26, and Lowry is already 30. Those two guys aren’t going to magically improve, but there’s no doubt that they are the best options north of the border.

Toronto could explore their options of trying to add a high quality power forward in free agency instead of re-signing DeRozan, but Al Horford is likely unobtainable, and Ryan Anderson has his own faults defensively. Pairing Anderson and Jonas Valanciunas would open the floodgates defensively for Toronto.

Seeing as the Raptors have already committed to Lowry, DeMarre Carroll and Valaciunas, DeRozan is still the best fit for them. It’s hard to imagine their ceiling is much higher than a second round exit with him as their highest paid player, but not everyone can win a championship either.

Next: Utah Jazz