Last week, DeMarre Carroll inked a four year, $60 million deal with the Toronto Raptors in free agency. This move made Carroll the highest paid player on the Raptors He announced his decision via Twitter and Instagram. It was speculated that Carroll was let go by the Hawks in order to retain all-star forward Paul Millsap.
Caroll's play over the second half of the NBA season made him a hot commodity in free agency. Carroll averaged 12.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 70 games played for Atlanta this year. He improved his all-around game but it was not able to earn him a bid to the all-star game. He was the only player in the Hawks' starting lineup to not make the all-star game.
In a recent interview with the Huffington Post's Marc Lamont Hill, Carroll said that the Hawks were not one of the four bidders for him in free agency.
"Atlanta, they made a semi-push but not as hard as I thought they would. I had four other teams making the big push. They [the Hawks] really didn’t even really come with too much, according to my agent."
Carroll's value rised tremendously over his two seasons in Atlanta from 2013-2015. He was arguably one of the biggest steals in the free agency of 2013 along with Paul Millsap. Carroll was given $5 million during his tenure with the team. He thrived in the Hawks Spurs-like motion system in which every player contributes and makes an impact. Despite injuries, this style of play earned the Hawks a trip to the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals.
DeMarre Carroll had the heart of a warrior during the Hawks' recent playoff run. He suffered a major knee injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals - the Cleveland Cavaliers and many figured that he would not be able to return for the rest of the series. He proved critics wrong but was not the same since. Nonetheless, an effective DeMarre Carroll is an x-factor for any team.
With the loss of Lou Williams to the Los Angeles Lakers, the window is now open for Carroll to be an effective scorer for the Toronto Raptors. It is unknown whether or not he will start at the SF position over Terrance Ross but his addition to the team is a large improvement in depth at that position.
Caroll was a journey man from 2009-2012 as he played with four teams. It was possible that he was going to find a niche in Atlanta but the NBA is a business and he had to do what made him happy along with what was beneficial for his career.
