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Why giving raises to veteran Raptors like DeRozan helps the team

By Brian Boake

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With the news of Jonas Valanciunas’s big contract extension, the Toronto Raptors salary situation once again takes the spotlight. An obvious question: who’s next? Terrence Ross? DeMar DeRozan can opt out after this season. Masai Ujiri needs to get out in front of the DeRozan situation by starting to negotiate a fat raise.

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As we’ve discussed, DeMar might already be underpaid, and he certainly will be by season’s end. Paying DeMar at the same rate as his peers makes him more tradeable, not less. This assertion is counter-intuitive, as one would think a cheaper player would be easier to move than a more expensive one. Let’s construct a pair of imaginary trades, at DD’s current salary of $10M, to illustrate my point.

Apr 24, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) knocks the ball from Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (4) in the second quarter in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

A straight-up swap for Lance Stephenson of the Clippers works financially. Not you, me or Masai would even consider giving up DD, who’s a prince off the court, for a flake like Stephenson. How about grabbing the NBA’s ultimate trade candidate (that’s not a compliment), Markieff Morris? We could get him, and T.J. Warren, an interesting “tweener”, from the Phoenix Suns. The Trade Machine says we’ve decreased our wins by five. And have we increased our attractiveness as a destination for top free agents like solid-citizen Kevin Durant when we dump DeRozan for troublemakers? You know the answer to that.

My point is that trading DD at the rate he’s currently paid doesn’t return fair value. He’s worth more than we can get back in return. I suppose it’s possible to construct a deal which provides a lot of draft picks (Boston has more than they know what to do with), but that’s not satisfactory either. We’ve got plenty of those, and even if we didn’t, it’s time for the Raptors to win.

To maximize DeMar’s value, he has to receive a raise. I wouldn’t wager on him getting a JV-like extension any time soon. His best interests are served by enjoying another fine season, then opting out of his current deal. Oddly enough, that serves the Raptors’s purposes as well.

Suppose next summer Masai gets DeMar $18M for three years. Prior to the trade deadline, he could be moved for Chicago’s Joakim Noah and Nikola Mirotic. How about getting Goran Dragic and Mario Chalmers from the Miami HEAT? [20-second timeout: Relax. Those aren’t trade proposals. I’m merely doing some back of the envelope dollar equivalencies to illustrate.] I think you’d agree we’re now in the zone where we’re starting to get a return commensurate with DD’s worth.

I don’t want to trade DeMar DeRozan; I’d love to see him retire a Raptor in 8 years with 3 championship rings. But the times they are a-changin’, whether we like it or not. Getting his paycheque to the level it needs to be is an essential step in making him a serious trade candidate.

Next: Can DeRozan & Durant co-exist?

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