A recent report from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon revealed that DeRozan now has no plans to arrange meetings with other National Basketball Association teams when free agency begins.
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Aside from the Raptors, the list of those making a hot pursuit on the 26-year-old out of Compton, California include the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic.
The All-Star averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and four assists per game as the Raptors had the best season in the history of the franchise.
Kevin Durant is the biggest name on the free agency market, but it doesn’t appear that the Knicks have too much of a shot at bringing him to NY.
The Lakers can offer two max players in the 2016 offseason with many free agents linked to the Hollywood team. He still has a lot of areas that he will improve in as he plays more, which should excite teams interested in signing him as well. With the Raptors needing help in the paint and the money to take on a big contract, speculation of a deal in the coming weeks is hitting social media.
The Raptors community, on the other hand, will probably not protest against re-signing him since he has proven his worth to the team. I was passionate about it when we were losing when we were awful. That being said, I’m also not sure very many competitive teams are going to be too interested in DeRozan following his lackluster playoff performance. “We feel great that he wants to come back to our organization”. The Raptors, it should be noted, also likely give DeRozan the best chance to win.
But even though it’s easy to view Biyombo as a valuable asset of the Raptors, re-signing him is not as easy as it seems.
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Handing him this much may not leave enough for Biyombo, which is why Raptors general manager Masarai Ujiri will have to seriously consider the team’s financial status and even the salary of other players if he wants to retain these two guys. “According to a person with knowledge of his situation, he will be patient as Toronto works things out with DeRozan as its top priority”.
