The domino the Toronto Raptors were waiting on has fallen, and it did not fall their way. With LeBron James signing in Philadelphia on Friday, the Miami Heat and DeMar DeRozan are expected to have “fresh conversations,” per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald — the first concrete movement in a veteran market that spent most of July frozen behind one man’s decision. Toronto remains a confirmed bidder for its former franchise star, per Marc Stein, but the competition just became specific.
This is how the market was always going to break. Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer said earlier this month that DeRozan’s most likely landing spots would be “teams that don’t get LeBron James,” and Miami — a finalist that came up empty Friday — fits that description exactly. The Heat and DeRozan have circled each other before, and Miami can offer something Toronto cannot: a clear path to meaningful minutes on a team that just traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Toronto’s case rests on sentiment and fit, not money. Doug Smith of the Toronto Star has reported the two camps are in contact and that DeRozan would welcome a return “if everything works out,” but the same reporting has been consistent on the terms: veteran-minimum money and a modest role, with Sportsnet’s Michael Grange repeatedly calling a reunion unlikely. The roster math is genuinely awkward. The front office is still waiting on the league to resolve the Kawhi Leonard trade, and until that investigation closes, Toronto has to plan its wing rotation — and its spending — around two very different versions of next season’s roster.
DeRozan, 36, averaged 18.4 points and 4.1 assists across 77 games for Sacramento last season before the Kings waived him this month. Whoever signs him is buying one of the league’s last reliable mid-range shot creators at the minimum — which is precisely why a sentimental reunion has real competition.
For fantasy purposes, the destination decides everything. DeRozan kept an 18-point scoring load at 36, but in Miami he would fight Giannis, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro for touches, capping him at deep-league relevance. A Toronto homecoming with a thinner wing rotation — especially if the Leonard trade collapses — is the outcome that would keep him draftable in standard leagues.
