DeMar DeRozan and Kobe Bryant (Photo : Getty Images)
The NBA free agency rumors are heating up as the power shifts to the players thanks to the drastic salary cap increase.
It is probably right that the players reap the benefits of the new TV deal as one quote from the previous lockout said: "People want to watch the players play, not the owners own."
In this context, we have the case of DeMar DeRozan who will be one of the most coveted free agents this summer. He has made it known that he wants a max contract and there are teams that have the cap space to offer him that. One of those teams happens to be the team he watched growing up: the LA Lakers.
The connection is too strong to ignore and this is what prompted TMZ to ask DeRozan's longtime friend and college teammate Romeo Miller about his illustrious pal (h/t Lake Show Life).
Miller kept repeating that DeRozan "is the best two guard in the NBA" when he was asked about free agency. When he was prodded on whether DeRozan could end up with the Lakers, Miller asked the rhetorical question "where do the best two guards end up?" possibly in reference to Kobe Bryant.
Later in the video, Miller seemed to backtrack and declared that DeRozan is a Raptor." But he then emphasized that DeRozan is a max player and that he needs to get paid. He also said "it's like a relationship, whoever wants him the most, that's where he'll end up with."
Both the Lakers and Raptors fan bases are torn on whether DeRozan deserves the max contract but that is not the point. It seems imperative for the Lakers to pursue DeRozan with their enormous cap space and the strong demands for improvement. It is not as simple for the Raptors since they do not have much cap space as Matthew Cullen of CBC Sports examined.
Cullen noted that DeRozan can be inconsistent (although he is already the most consistent player for the Raptors in the playoffs-which is why they win one game and lose badly in the next). The dilemma is that "finding a replacement for DeRozan could be difficult."
The Raptors, as the article noted, has lost big stars that they drafted notablyVince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh. Cullen concludes: "For a team that is two wins from its first Eastern Conference final appearance in franchise history, the Raptors simply cannot afford to let another star walk away."
DeRozan will be the subject of an intense tug-of-war between the Raptors and Lakers.
