DeMar DeRozan free agency: Why six-time All-Star is in limbo, just like the last time he was on the market

DeRozan reportedly won't sign for the MLE, and sign-and-trades are complicated

By James Herbert Jul 3, 2024 at 4:50 pm ET• 5 min read

Three years ago, when DeMar DeRozan was a free agent, some speculated that he could take a sizable pay cut. Mere hours before DeRozan agreed to a sign-and-trade that sent him to the Chicago Bulls, Chris Haynes, then of Yahoo Sports, reported that the star wing would meet with the Los Angeles Clippers that day, even though the Clippers only had the taxpayer midlevel exception (then worth $5.9 million) at their disposal.

DeRozan had made $27.7 million the previous season with the San Antonio Spurs. The deal he ended up signing with the Bulls paid him $81.9 million over three years. And now, with DeRozan, again a free agent, seemingly in limbo coming off a season in which he made $28.6 million, I'm getting deja vu. Just like last time, there has been some reporting that he'd like to play in his hometown of Los Angeles. Just like last time, there has been some reporting that the Miami Heat would like to have him. Just like last time, he and the team on which he finished the season are ready to part ways, but there's not much cap space out there. Will some team come out of nowhere with a sign-and-trade the way the Bulls did then?

DeRozan is willing to be "very patient," Haynes, now of Bleacher Report said on Tuesday. Both Haynes and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said that Chicago is happy to facilitate a sign-and-trade but DeRozan could potentially sign a one-year deal instead. In that scenario, he could try free agency again next summer, at which point he might have more options. (In a sign-and-trade, the contract must be for a minimumof three years, although only the first has to be fully guaranteed.)

But what kind of one-year deal would he sign? And with whom? DeRozan will not even consider signing for the non-taxpayer midlevel exception (i.e. $12.9 million), per Haynes. The only teams that have the requisite cap space to sign DeRozan outright on a contract he'd find palatable are the Detroit Pistons (who don't fit his timeline, have a glut of young guards/wings who need the ball in their hands and, in Tobias Harris, have already splurged on a vet this offseason) and the Utah Jazz (who don't fit his timeline and could use its cap space to renegotiate-and-extend Lauri Markkanen's contract in August, provided that they don't trade him before then).