One of the most beloved players in Toronto Raptors team history is DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan and Kyle Lowry formed an iconic duo together, which resulted in some great regular seasons. While it did not result in a championship, both poured their heart and soul into the city of Toronto.
Unfortunately, every team encounters a crossroad and needs to switch things up to garner different results. In 2018, Kawhi Leonard became available and the Raptors took a chance by acquiring him.
It resulted in DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl being sent to the San Antonio Spurs. This ended a nine season tenure in Toronto for DeRozan. He recently opened up about how the trade affected him mentally, via The Pivot Podcast:
It f**ked me up, I’m being honest. It’s crazy, I’m more than comfortable talking about it now but for the longest time it f**ked me up because, one, that was the place I wanted to be, thought I was going to be, gave everything to like my whole motivation and drive was to simply put Toronto on the map. I wanted to follow the whole motto of, you know, Kobe [Bryant], my favorite player, I wanted to play on one team, I had it all mapped out, so when I got traded it was such a blow because at the time I was dealing with my family stuff, like you said, that was when my dad first started getting sick. That was the first time in my professional career where I just felt like out of it, I felt lost. I started to question every single thing.”
This shows how much DeRozan cared about Toronto. However, that move in 2018 resulted in the first championship won by the Raptors franchise, which he acknowledges and is happy for the city.
All things considered, DeRozan is going to be remembered as one of the greats for the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan passes Elgin Baylor, Dwyane Wade and Adrian Dantley on all-time scoring list
While he may not be in Toronto anymore, DeRozan is still playing at a high level for the Chicago Bulls. This past season featured him passing Elgin Baylor, Dwyane Wade and Adrian Dantely on the all-time scoring list.
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