DeMarre Carroll

After a couple of average seasons with Toronto, the Raptors opted to ship Carroll, and the final two years of his four-year, $58 million deal, to the Nets in order to open up some cap space. Despite what appeared to be a team getting rid of an ugly contract, the Nets got plenty of value out of Carroll in his first season with the team. He started all 73 games he played in and became a potential standard league pickup due to his solid multi-category production. Carroll finished with career-high averages of 13.5 points per game, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while he was also given free reign to launch from beyond the arc. The 32-year-old tallied yet another career high of 2.0 three-pointers made and posted a respectable 37.1 percent clip from downtown. His role doesn't appear to be in too much danger heading into the 2017-18 campaign. The Nets did add both Ed Davis and Kenneth Faried in free agency, who could be added to the mix at the power forward position. Despite starting at small forward, Carroll saw a ton of action at the four last year, so those two additions could get in the way of him matching his workload from a season ago. With all that said, expect Carroll to put up numbers similar to, or slightly down from, last year's output.

Going into the second year of a four-year, $58 million contract, Carroll ended up starting all 72 games he played in with the Raptors in 2016-17. However, his overall struggles and the solid play of youngster Norman Powell, eventually hurt his overall workload. Carroll averaged just 26.1 minutes per game, which was his lowest mark since the 2012-13 season. That translated to a decreased stat line across the board, and he finished with averages of just 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 1.1 steals and 1.5 made three-pointers per game. His three-point shooting that was particularly disappointing, as he shot just 34.1 percent from deep, which was down from 39 percent a year prior. He fell well below expectations, prompting the Raptors to trade him to the Nets in the offseason. The bad news for Carroll, aside from heading to a less-talented roster, is that he's not guaranteed a starting role in Brooklyn. The Nets also brought in Allen Crabbe and D'Angelo Russell this offseason, and they already had Jeremy Lin and Caris LeVert, so there's going to be a fierce competition at both guard spots, as well as small forward. With even more bodies fighting for minutes in Brooklyn than there were in Toronto, Carroll's numbers could take another hit.

The Raptors made a rare splash in free agency last season, inking Carroll to a four-year, $58 million contract to give the team a needed 3-and-D wing to complement their co-stars, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. While Toronto was able to roll to a franchise-record 56 wins, it's worth wondering how much better they would have been if Carroll, who missed 56 games, had been healthy over the course of the season. The 30-year-old never seemed comfortable after picking up a right knee contusion early on in the campaign that resulted in him getting shut down in December. When Carroll failed to show much improvement in the weeks that followed, it was ultimately determined arthroscopic surgery was necessary, which would sideline him until the tail end of the regular season. He would finish the injury-plagued season with averages of 11.0 points (on 38.9% shooting), 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 three-pointers, 1.7 steals and 1.0 assist in 30.2 minutes per game, with the mark from the field in particular limiting his overall impact. He still wasn't fully healthy in the Raptors' playoff run, either, but the team is hopeful that a full offseason to recuperate will yield a bounce-back year from the small forward. Assuming that he's able to largely avoid the knee issues that plagued him a season ago, Carroll holds some sleeper potential for what he'll provide in the points, three-pointers, rebounds and steals columns when healthy.

Carroll posted his second straight strong campaign as the Hawks' primary wing defender and a complementary piece on offense and was able to parlay that skill set into a four-year, $60 million contract from the conference rival Raptors. While the size of the contract might seem outrageous if you focus exclusively on Carroll's traditional stats, as he averaged a fairly modest 31 minutes, 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.2 blocks, and 1.7 three-pointers in 70 games last season while shooting 49 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three-point range, and 70 percent from the free-throw line, his defensive reputation more than justifies the deal, although some advanced metrics had him performing at a much higher level in 2013-14 than he did last season. He's also joining a roster that will provide him with much less support in his own end, as DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson are a defensive downgrade from Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap. Nonetheless, the 29-year-old figures to play a significant role in the Raptors' starting five as a pure 3-and-D player, and Carroll will be a key part of the team's core as they attempt to get over the hump and push deeper into the postseason.

Carroll's first season in Atlanta was easily the best of his five-year NBA career. The journeyman forward quickly established himself as a starter for coach Mike Budenholzer and posted career-best numbers in games played (73), minutes (32), points (11.1), rebounds (5.5), assists (1.8), three-pointers made (1.3), and shooting (47 percent from the field). Carroll came into the season known primarily as a lock-down defender, so the scoring was a particularly nice surprise for a team missing its best player for much of the season. He may be hard-pressed to match those numbers this season, as the Hawks are much deeper on the wing after adding Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore to the mix over the summer.

Carroll has earned the reputation of defensive stopper. His hard-nosed play and ability to defend multiple positions makes him an invaluable commodity for Atlanta. He averaged 16.8 minutes as a teammate of Paul Millsap, both formerly of the Jazz last season. The two will again team up to provide contrasting styles. Carroll is not fantasy friendly in most leagues.

Carroll will serve time as a backup at both forward slots in 2010-11. His most productive periods last year came when either Rudy Gay or Zach Randolph was hobbled by injury, and the same will hold true for this season.

Carroll is an energy guy who should provide some frontcourt depth. He played in a high-octane offense at Mizzou, which could translate well to what the Grizzlies are trying to do.