It doesn’t take an expert to know the LA Lakers need help and with Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement after the current season is finished, finding a player that will get the fans excited and help this franchise finally start winning basketball games is a priority.
The fans would love to see Kevin Durant in the “purple and gold” next season, but with not much help on the roster, it’s likely he will stay in Oklahoma or take his services somewhere besides southern California.
General manager Mitch Kupchak will need to someone and now rumors have former USC star DeMar DeRozan returning to his hometown. The Toronto Raptors guard/forward has reportedly told those close to him that he will opt-out of his current deal after this season, hoping to get a big money deal with upwards of five years of serious earning potential.
ESPN has reported that Kupchak, along with a few other NBA teams, will offer the former first round draft pick a max-money deal worth $25 million per year. DeRozan has still expressed his intentions to keep Toronto as his home, but will the Raptors match an offer with that kind of money, especially with the team failing to get past the first round of the playoffs with the roster they have in place?
The 26-year-old is averaging nearly 23 points per game this season and 22 points per contest over the last three years, but he isn’t a one trick pony with 4 rebounds and four assists on average per game, not bad numbers considering he isn’t the primary ball handler on the team.
One thing is clear, Kupchak is running out of time and must find away to get a big name player in Los Angeles or risk losing his job. The fans and franchise are used to playing for championships and another poor off season could make it difficult to get things turned around any time soon.
