Huge DeRozan deal solidifies Raptors' return to relevance
The Toronto Raptors had the franchise’s best-ever season in 2015-16, winning a record 56 games and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time. They began a critical 2016 free agency period by locking up a homegrown All-Star for the long term, though perhaps at the expense of their long-term flexibility.
As reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical, shooting guard DeMar DeRozan quickly agreed to terms to remain with the Raptors for five years and approximately $139 million. That dollar amount has not yet been finalized due to other offseason factors for Toronto, but DeRozan will certainly be under contract at a very high salary through his age-31 season in 2020-21.
It is unquestionably good news for the Raptors and DeRozan, who had given little indication that he had interest in leaving the team that drafted him with the No. 9 pick in 2009. DeRozan has developed from a stellar athlete with questionable technical skills into one of the league’s best shooting guards, a two-time All-Star who had his best season in 2015-16. There is reason to believe that he has not yet reached his prime, as well, so it’s not as if the Raptors are only paying for past production.
Nevertheless, this deal represents a hefty investment in a non-superstar who struggled mightily throughout the Raptors’ up-and-down playoff run. DeRozan shot just 39.4 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from three-point range during 20 wildly inefficient postseason appearances, with much of his work coming via the increasingly out-of-favor mid-range game. DeRozan seemed especially diminished in games where officials did not call fouls on contact that would have sent him to the line in most regular season contests. His reputation took a substantial hit even as Toronto progressed farther than it ever had.
Paying DeRozan close to $28 million per season complicates the Raptors’ future flexibility, too. With Kyle Lowry, DeMarre Carroll, Terrence Ross, and Jonas Valanciunas all making north of $10 million in 2016-17 (and 2017-18 if Lowry opts to exercise his $12 million player option), the Raptors still have to consider paying playoff hero Bismack Biyombo $20 million or more now that Timofey Mozgov has set the market for merely sentient centers at $16 million per year. General manager Masai Ujiri could choose to dangle Valanciunas for relief after drafting Utah center Jakob Poeltl last Thursday, and Ross has been mentioned in rumors involving the Philadelphia 76ers’ attempts to solve their Hinkian knot of frontcourt options. Whatever happens, though, the DeRozan deal is large enough to make things substantially more complicated.
Yet that’s a decent problem to have for a franchise that has historically struggled to lure top-level to Toronto. Plenty of teams would have felt privileged to hand DeRozan this deal in free agency, and the Raptors have an opportunity to make themselves a more popular destination with a sustained run of playoff series wins. DeRozan has been a big part of the Raptors’ resurgence, has improved at a steady rate, and wants to be with the club. Why wouldn’t they retain him?
It’s only a questionable deal if a team’s only goal should be to win a title. But Toronto has found that steady progress can be a pretty great reward in its own right.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
