DeMar DeRozan has opted out of the final year of his contract with the Raptors and is now officially an unrestricted free agent
The Toronto Raptors made it to the Eastern Conference Finals this past season before being ousted from the 2016 NBA Playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. One of the catalysts for their success was one of their longest tenured players in guard DeMar DeRozan, but the Raptors have been preparing to have to try and persuade him to return as he had a player option in his contract for next season.
On Monday, DeMar DeRozan stuck to what everyone thought he was going to do and, according to a report from Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, opted out of his contract and is officially a free agent:
Raptors G DeMar DeRozan has officially opted out and is a free agent, league sources informed @clevelanddotcom. His deadline was June 15.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 13, 2016
This isn’t all that unexpected by any stretch as most people around the league have considered this a foregone conclusion. The real question is whether or not DeMar DeRozan will be back with the Raptors or not.
Obviously there is a chance that things can change in an instance, but most reports have indicated that staying in Toronto is what DeRozan plans to do. Despite a lot of buzz throughout the year that he would return to his home of Los Angeles to play for the Lakers, but that has lost a lot of steam in the past few weeks.
Step one of DeMar DeRozan’s free agency is now reportedly complete. Now its time to wait for the other dominoes to fall.
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