As the best season in the history of the Toronto Raptors team comes to an end at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, GM Masai Ujiri has some tough questions to deal with.
All in all, the Raptors 2015-16 season was a success. They went deep into the playoffs and were two games away from the NBA Finals. But the celebration would be short as Ujiri needs to deal with two of the main reasons they went that far: DeMar DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo.
In an ESPN Insider feature, the panel of experts debated on the fate of the Raptors. One of the biggest questions was whether they should offer the max contract to DeMar DeRozan in the context that he could leave for another team if they don't.
Jeremias Engelmann used the real plus-minus stat to defend his stance.
"Given that DeRozan's Real Plus-Minus this season was 0.1, which is barely above average, and the team played six points per 100 possessions better when he was sitting I'm going to answer this question with a loud 'No!'
DeRozan is the new Rudy Gay -- his scoring average makes you think he impacts the game in a positive way, but he simply doesn't."
The natural instinct is to keep the team together but DeRozan should also cooperate. If DeRozan takes a "max or bust" stance, he might be better off with the Lakers-a team willing to offer the max. Besides, there is an underlying notion that Kyle Lowry remains the catalyst to the Raptors team.
Tom Haberstroh had the same conclusion: "The Raptors were far better with Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph on the floor this season than Lowry and DeRozan. That doesn't necessary mean they're better off with him gone, but DeRozan's struggle to get to the line -- zero free throws in three playoff games after no such games in the regular season -- is concerning."
Haberstroh also mentioned that the team has become "too expensive to retain" specifically with Bismack Biyombo. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report predicted that Biyombo would end up "anywhere not Toronto" which means that he will get plenty of offers. Similar to Hassan Whiteside, the Raptors do not own the Bird rights to Biyombo and will only have $5-7 million to offer him under their cap.
There would be many teams that could offer up to $15 million for him. The Lakers have the most cap space and they could chase both him and DeRozan. He is the type of center who could fit well with an uptempo offense as he gets his points from rebounds. It's ironic that his former team Charlotte would be seeking a voracious rim protector like him, as well as teams like the Milwaukee Bucks. Any of the teams that pursue Hassan Whiteside and fail would take him as the consolation prize.