While the 2015-16 Lakers season being all about Kobe Bryant's retirement, the team at least appears to be looking for his successor.
Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, a 2014 NBA All-Star who is currently averaging a career-high 22.9 points per game, will be a max-deal target of the Lakers next summer, according to ESPN.
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In an article dissecting Toronto's future, ESPN pondered: "If the Raptors lose early in the playoffs again, they will face a simple question: Is this core good enough that improvement from the players on hand is all they need to approach Cleveland's level?
"That starts with DeRozan, a lock to decline his option and hit free agency this summer. A bunch of teams, including DeRozan's hometown Lakers, are prepared to offer him a max deal starting at $25 million per season, and the Raptors know they will have to spend big to keep him."
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The 26-year-old DeRozan is in his seventh year with the Raptors after playing one season at USC. The Compton, Calif., native is shooting 44.6 percent from the floor this season. Bryant hasn't shot that well since his 2012-13 season.
The knock on DeRozan is his 3-point shooting, which is 29.0 percent this season and 27.2 percent for his career.
The Lakers would need his long-range shooting to improve to help further the development of point guards D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson around the basket. DeRozan also would re-team with Lou Williams, his former teammate in Toronto.
Los Angeles will be under tremendous pressure to land a big-name free agent in the offseason after largely striking out the past two seasons. They also will head into 2016-17 without the burden of Bryant's retirement handcuffing their options as an organization, as the picture they have painted of retaining the Black Mamba suggests.
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