DeMar DeRozan’s next contract – with Raptors or elsewhere?
By Brian Boake
DeMar DeRozan wants a big raise and a new contract with the Raptors or someone else before next season. Does he deserve them?
DeMar DeRozan is under the hot lights. His Toronto Raptors are tied 1-1 with the Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. DD needs to play his best basketball, not only to advance Toronto to the next round against the (presumably) Cleveland Cavaliers but for his own sake.
DeRozan was an All-Star this season for the second time. He’s also in a wonderful position contractually, as he can, and will, decline his option for a final year at just over 10 million dollars to become an Unrestricted Free Agent. His timing is impeccable, as the salary cap is expected to take an unprecedented leap from $70 million to just over 92.
How much of a raise can DeMar expect? Is he worth a maximum contract of around $23 million per year? Every General Manager in the NBA has DeMar’s agent on speed-dial, and is watching the playoffs intently.
In pro golf, tournament players who are in contention after two rounds, then play poorly on Saturday and/or Sunday, say “I spent a lot of money” to describe their (relative) self-created misfortune. Based on his playoff performance so far, DeMar DeRozan has spent a lot of money. The NBA playoffs are the hoops equivalent to golfers’ weekend rounds – they are where reputations and big paycheques are generated. DeMar is hurting himself badly.
Consider his shooting statistics, from the always-useful www.basketball-reference.com.
Playoffs Per Game
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| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 24 | TOR | NBA | SG | 7 | 7 | 40.3 | 6.4 | 16.7 | .385 | 0.9 | 2.6 | .333 | 5.6 | 14.1 | .394 | .410 | 10.1 | 11.3 | .899 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 23.9 |
| 2014-15 | 25 | TOR | NBA | SG | 4 | 4 | 39.8 | 8.0 | 20.0 | .400 | 0.8 | 2.0 | .375 | 7.3 | 18.0 | .403 | .419 | 3.5 | 4.3 | .824 | 1.3 | 5.0 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 20.3 |
| 2015-16 | 26 | TOR | NBA | SG | 9 | 9 | 37.4 | 6.9 | 20.4 | .337 | 0.3 | 2.0 | .167 | 6.6 | 18.4 | .355 | .345 | 4.4 | 5.9 | .755 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 18.6 |
| Career | NBA | 20 | 20 | 38.9 | 7.0 | 19.1 | .365 | 0.6 | 2.2 | .273 | 6.4 | 16.9 | .377 | .381 | 6.3 | 7.5 | .839 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 20.8 |
His 9 games played so far are significantly worse than his previous playoff appearances. Our imaginary GM, who’s trying to decide how much money his team should offer for an allegedly premier shooting guard, has to be concerned. “This guy is a veteran – how can he be playing so poorly in what should be the prime of his career? I can’t have a guy who folds in the playoffs.”
Let’s take one example. Mitch Kupchak of the Los Angeles Lakers has money to spend, and DeMar is a southern California native. A natural fit, you might think, but Kupchak must be wondering: “If I sign DeMar despite his poor showing under playoff pressure, how’s he going to handle playing in front of his home-town fans?”
For DeMar, shooting stats will make or break him. He’s a so-so defender and rebounder, and his decent assists numbers are not helpful to his cause since he’s such a ball-stopper. In other words, if he can’t score, he’s no more than an average player, and even bad teams can find those guys cheaply.
Happily for DeMar, he still has time. The Raptors survived a scare from the Indiana Pacers, and have a pulse against the Miami Heat after last night’s OverTime win. Should the Raptors win this round because DeMar rediscovers his shot, much will be forgiven.
But if DeMar continues to miss shots from everywhere, and the Raptors are done after this round, he may find his future employment possibilities drying up. It’s quite conceivable that Masai Ujiri, the Raptors head honcho, has already seen enough, and won’t compete for DeMar’s services. Stranger things have happened.