Am I the only one on team #down4demar?
Absolutely not.
Per Marc Stein:
The floor figure teams are throwing around for Bismack Biyombo's free agency, thanks to the magical Cap Spike of 2016, is a cool $15 million
Yikes.
I'd try to see what the Sixers want for Noel as long as its not #2 and D'Lo.
Including Randle makes it a lateral move pretty much. Nerlens has strengths on the defensive side of the ball, but isn't in any way plausibly better than Randle in a long term sense. Also he gets his post Rookie Contract starting in 2017.
Chris Mannix:
On DeRozan: Plenty of options, including LA. But why leave a city and team like Toronto and a five-year deal for a rebuilding situation?
Many reasons
1. They are losing Biyombo. Unless they trade Carroll for nothing, they cannot afford DeMar & Biyombo. Which means they are taking a step back. And if they tried to trade say Patterson, and Ross to try and retain Biyombo, a team will go over the top, and offer over anything Biyombo could get from Toronto.
2. Toronto is a Top 4 seed with no prospects of getting to the finals. They can't improve, and unless Ross becomes the player he's capable of (that ship sailed), Raptors are what they are, and that's not a contender.
3. Adding DeMar & say a Whiteside with Ingram. Retaining Clarkson, and adding another bench piece for anywhere around $7mil - $22mil (Range they have for a bench player, and tops out if Lou Williams was traded) is fighting for a playoff spot.
4. Gets way more recognition in LA than he ever would in Toronto.
5. LA is his home town.
6. Will make whatever possible money in raises (about $5-6mil in 4 years) easily in endorsements that just are not available for a guy like DeMar DeRozan in Toronto.
7. He would be considered the guy of his childhood team, and taking over the reigns from the guy he considered his idol.
There's a bunch of reasons why he would leave Toronto