One of the biggest free agents to change teams this summer was DeMarre Carroll, who left the 60-win Hawks to sign a four-year, $60 million deal with the Raptors. Atlanta made a trade on July 1 for Spurs center Tiago Splitter and then gave Paul Millsap a three-year max deal to stay, which made it difficult for them to retain Carroll, arguably their most important defender, at market rate. Carroll talked about the process in an interview on Bleacher Report Radio on Sunday:
DeMarre Carroll tells us @BR_Radio that Atlanta told him that it came down to him or Paul Millsap
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 5, 2015
DeMarre Carroll on @BR_Radio on Toronto: "I came in and realized this team really wants me & the coach really wants me..." (1/2)....
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 5, 2015
".... At the same time, then they threw the money at me, and that was even bigger." (DeMarre Carroll on @BR_Radio)
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 5, 2015
Losing Carroll is a huge blow for the Hawks — he was their best perimeter defender. He adds a lot of versatility to a Raptors team that has lost Amir Johnson and is still deciding on bringing back Lou Williams. He can play both forward positions and guard the other team’s best player.