The San Antonio Spurs will enter the NBA offseason with plenty of difficult decisions to make. Perhaps most importantly of all is what to do with DeMar DeRozan as he faces a $27.7 million player option.
The Spurs will have to decide if they want to give DeRozan a contract extension if he is willing to stay in San Antonio.
However, DeRozan may not want to stick around as he will have the opportunity to go elsewhere by declining his player option.
According to the NBA Staff at The Athletic, an anonymous NBA scout expressed that DeMar DeRozan doesn’t want to be in San Antonio. If he leaves, he’d go to the Detroit Pistons to reunite with head coach Dwane Casey.
“DeMar doesn’t like San Antonio and doesn’t want to be there. If those guys leave, they land with Dwane Casey in Detroit. That relationship with the former coach is strong. Comes down to money (for VanVleet) and the situation in Toronto is rough with the taxes. VanVleet on the Pistons elevates his status as the number 1-2 guy on a team.”
The most advantageous option for the Spurs would be to trade DeRozan in the offseason. The team is now stuck as a non-playoff threat in an ascending Western Conference with LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan nearing the end of the current contracts.
Simply adding veteran pieces is no longer an option to stay afloat as a playoff team in the Western Conference. The Spurs must add talent in the NBA Draft or hit home-runs in player development in unforeseen ways and to significant extents.
It’s more logical for the Detroit Pistons to acquire a talent like DeMar DeRozan if the goal is to simply make the playoffs next season. Adding a scoring threat on the wing of his caliber when paired with Blake Griffin would surely be enough to finish in the top eight of the Eastern Conference.
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