San Antonio Spurs News: DeMar DeRozan still isn’t thinking about his contract

Given everything going on in San Antonio Spurs news and in a hectic world, DeMar DeRozan isn’t focusing on his contract, he’s focusing on the now.

Things have been a blur since the NBA season went on its months-long suspension back on March 11th. Between adjusting to life in quarantine, trying to find ways to stay in tip-top shape, and advocating for social justice causes, you can’t blame San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan for taking a day by day approach to the last few months.

Now with the Spurs preparing for scrimmages against other teams later this week, still trying to get back to where they were with conditioning, and working as a team to replace LaMarcus Aldridge and Trey Lyles,  it’s understandable the DeRozan is keeping his focus solely on what’s going on inside the bubble.

So when DeRozan tells Jeff Garcia with News 4 San Antonio that he hasn’t thought about the upcoming player option he’s got to make a decision on, we’ve just got to take him at his word.

DeRozan not thinking about player-option with San Antonio Spurs

It might seem hard to believe that DeRozan hasn’t thought about the $27.7 million dollar option he will have to make a decision on but you’ve got to like his day by day approach. The fact that he made sure to mention getting the young guys ready is an encouraging sign for these next few games for the Spurs.

These most recent remarks are consistent for what we’ve heard about DeRozan’s thought process regarding his future with the Spurs throughout the season. Whenever he was asked about what he was thinking about his player option he was deferential, saying he wasn’t worried about it at the time and referring to it as something he would take care of after the season is over.

DeMar has until October 17th to decide how he will handle his player option. If the Spurs don’t make the playoffs that will give him just about two months to make a decision.

It’s hard to predict what DeRozan might do. Players in similar situations, like Andre Drummond, picked up their player options because of the financial security that they provided. The salary cap is sure to go down this year, making it harder for stars on the back end of their primes like DeRozan to grab that massive contract that they’re looking for. He could elect to cash in for one more year and then make his next move in unrestricted free agency next summer.

On the other hand, DeRozan could see the writing on the wall in San Antonio and decide his time here has come to an end. With young players like Lonnie Walker and Dejounte Murray hungry for a greater opportunity, DeRozan could decide that he’d be better off looking for a smaller deal with a contending team that could help him capture his first NBA title.

DeRozan’s decision will be one of the most highly anticipated moves of the San Antonio Spurs offseason. So much of how they approach next year hinges on if he is on the roster or not. This is a situation that bears watching, although it doesn’t sound like we will know what he’s going to do anytime soon.