San Antonio Spurs Rumors: Is DeMar DeRozan unhappy in San Antonio?

Rumors are floating around that the San Antonio Spurs guard is unhappy with his situation

The biggest uncertainty facing the San Antonio Spurs this offseason is what their star player, DeMar DeRozan, plans to do with his upcoming player option. DeRozan can opt-in to the final year of his deal with the Spurs that’ll see him earn a hefty $27.7 million during the 2019-20 season.

This is something that has been at the forefront of Spurs fan’s minds for months. And for now, we’re no closer to learning what DeRozan plans to do than we were in the middle of the season.

When he was asked about his contract during the season DeRozan said it wasn’t something that he was thinking about and that he would worry about it during the offseason. More recently he’s pushed it off again, saying that keeping the focus on various issues taking place in the world is more important than him talking about his contract.

DeRozan’s given us no reason not to take him at his word but all that silence opens room for rumors and speculation to fester. And boy are the rumors flying.

DeMar DeRozan responds to rumors of reported unhappiness

In a recent piece for The Athletic (subscription required) one anonymous NBA agent had this to say about DeRozan’s situation in San Antonio.

“DeRozan 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.”

Let’s unpack that. Yes, DeRozan and Casey do have a great relationship. They’ve both talked about the impact that they’ve had on each other’s careers at length and it seems to be a deeper relationship than just player-coach.

As strong as DeRozan’s relationship with Casey might be, forgive me if I don’t take the word of an “anonymous NBA agent” at face value. Especially when DeRozan was so quick to refute rumors of his unhappiness on his Instagram just hours after they started flying.

Another reason to doubt the rumors is that this isn’t the first time that they’ve popped up. Earlier this year, Jabari Young similarly reported that DeRozan wasn’t happy in San Antonio. DeRozan was quick to respond to that allegation as well, tweeting simply “Who comes up with this sh*t?”

Look, maybe DeRozan is unhappy in San Antonio and maybe he isn’t. But so far the only voices that we have saying that he is are anonymous agents and a report from months ago. And DeMar has gone out of his way to respond to and refute both of those reports. So it really comes down to who do you trust, DeRozan or the rumors?

And to cut this train of thought off before it even leaves the station, don’t even think about comparing DeMar’s situation to the one Kawhi Leonard put the Spurs in a few years ago. We all knew that Kawhi and his meddling uncle had their eyes on Los Angeles and there was way more reporting from inside the locker room substantiating those rumors. So far we haven’t heard anything from anyone inside the Spurs locker room saying DeRozan has been anything less than an excellent teammate and mentor to the young players.

The fact of the matter is that we probably won’t get an indication of how DeRozan plans to handle the final year of his deal with the San Antonio Spurs until he makes his decision. And in typical Spurs fashion, it’s likely to come in some boring press release from the team. Until that happens, remember not to believe everything you read on the internet.