DeMar DeRozan is heavily considered by many to be one of the top five free agents in the 2016 class. DeRozan joins an elite group of top talent like Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley and Hassan Whitesite at the top of the free agent class.
It now appears that DeRozan has made it all but official and has elected to opt out of his contract with the Toronto Raptors making him an unrestricted free agent.
Following from Chris B Haynes of Cleveland.com.
Raptors G DeMar DeRozan has officially opted out and is a free agent, league sources informed @clevelanddotcom. His deadline was June 15.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 13, 2016
Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri had previously stated that the team’s top priority was to re-sign DeRozan at any cost. DeRozan has been on the Toronto Raptors for all seven of his NBA seasons. He had a player option for 2016-17 for $9.5 million, but will likely make more money on the open market after leading the Raptors, alongside Kyle Lowry, to the Eastern Conference Finals this past season.
The 26-year-old shooting guard averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and four assists over 78 games with the Raps. He shot career highs from three-point range (.338) and the free-throw line (.850). In 20 postseason games, DeRozan put up 20.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
