DeMar DeRozan: “Without Me the Raptors Wouldn’t be Here”

There were many negative reactions last summer after the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs made their blockbusting trade. DeMar DeRozan went from Canada to Texas, and in the opposite direction headed Kawhi Leonard.

Back then, Raptors’ fans were very angry, and Masai Ujiri was the No.1 enemy in Toronto. DeRozan was the heart and soul of the franchise, and they couldn’t get over that easily.

Almost a year later, things have changed. With Leonard leading the team, the fans in Toronto reached heights never seen with DeRozan onboard. The Raptors are playing their first finals ever, and Ujiri turned out to be a great visionary.

Everybody is happy now.

Well, almost everybody, because DeRozan still didn’t get over everything which happened in the past. But he is much calmer now. He looks at things differently than before. According to the Spurs’ player, the Raptors wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him.

“If it wasn’t for all the years and groundwork that I did before then, none of them things would’ve been possible,” said DeRozan.

“I had to be the sacrificial lamb” @DeMar_DeRozan is still rooting for the Raptors in the Finals but explains why he was so hurt when the trade went down. Season finale of “Take It There” with @TaylorRooks https://t.co/CNL1gyPDtm pic.twitter.com/WKUtzvow29

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 4, 2019

And to be honest, this does have sense. After all, along with Kyle Lowry, he made the Raptors what they are today. Yes, they didn’t reach the finals, but they were constantly in among the top teams in the East in the last couple of years. Not to mention the fact that they had LeBron James against them, which isn’t the case with the Raptors nowadays.

DeRozan stated one other very interesting thing, and that is that the Raptors sacrificed him.

“Yes, I fought, I sacrificed, I pushed the limits to where I had to be the sacrificial lamb.”

But it appears that he made peace with that and that he understands that the Raptors wanted to try to jump to another level no matter the cost.

“You just have to sit back and understand that you are the reason so many things are even possible. To their credit, they probably felt like it was time to see what we could get to make that next jump.”

Many people were a bit shocked when they heard that he still roots for the Raptors despite all that happened in the past. But there is a logical explanation for that also. The bond between him and Kyle Lowry is just too strong to be cut just like that. And also, he can’t forget all the years spent in Canada with other teammates who are still wearing Raptors’ jersey.

“My best friend is Kyle, so I’m rooting for my best friend to do well, to accomplish something that we tried to do all those years and he has the opportunity to do it,” DeRozan said. “All them guys on the team, they know that I’m rooting for them.”

Right now, the series between the Raptors and the Warriors is tied at 1-1, and the next two games will be played in Oakland.

As for DeRozan, he finished his playoff quest already in the first round, suffering an elimination against the Denver Nuggets in 7 tough games.

Regarding the future, he enters the fourth year of a five-year deal worth $139 million, and he is eligible for an extension already this summer. According to several sources, the Spurs are willing to offer DeRozan a new deal, because he posted excellent numbers and fits perfectly into Gregg Popovich’s philosophy of play.

He averaged 21.2 points, and career-high figures in rebounds, 6.0, assists 6.2 and steals, 1.1. The Spurs organization already signed a new three-year deal with Popovich, and they will probably try to form a team capable of entering the battle for the title.

DeRozan should be one of the vital pieces in that situation.