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DeRozan was on the 25/10 Show yesterday and spoke about when Raptors won the Chip after he was traded...

It was the craziest, like for two years in a row every time I went back and played in Toronto they gave me a f--king tribute video, and it was like... you don't realize how much you do for a place until you go back, so that there f--ked me up," DeRozan admitted. "So to leave and go in the playoffs, and you know they win it, it was like - I couldn't watch it. I couldn't watch it, bro. I found every excuse to be gone, you know what I mean? Because it was it was driving me crazy.

“One thing I did appreciate when they won it, every single guy that I played with called me, like they FaceTimed me and told me," DeRozan said. "So that happened and then they had the parade, I remember people were holding up signs that said we did this for DeMar.

Interview (not sure why link isn't embedding, but it's also included in article below)
[youtube]https://youtu.be/nZmSAqE0R6k?si=NuPf9uK2-Vs6czRc[/youtube]

Brief SI article (with the quotes above)
https://www.si.com/nba/bulls/news/demar-derozan-reveals-brutally-honest-feelings-on-toronto-raptors-01hzwv2a0h7k

still love him

WuTang_OG wrote:still love him

Yup he was never gonna get us to the promised land. But much respect for him establishing us as a consistent winner

Duffman100 wrote:

WuTang_OG wrote:still love him

Yup he was never gonna get us to the promised land. But much respect for him establishing us as a consistent winner

had to be sacrificed lol

WuTang_OG wrote:still love him

Yep same, they don't get any more loyal then DeRozan.

If he didn't develop as much as he did we would have had to offer more to get Kawhi. Raps legend!

Retire that man's jersey!

We need to trade Siakam for AJ Griffen before it's too late! - PhilBlackson

I 100% get how he feels, and if there was a way to win a chip with him on the team, I'd be 100% behind it. It just wasn't working, and he did not rise to the occassion when he was needed the most. It is what it is. He'll always be a Toronto legend tho.

I admired how he came back from every summer having worked on a new part of his game. His elite footwork and midrange game are impressive. And in his 15th season he led the league in minutes. Unless he falls off a cliff I think he has a couple good years left. Would like to see him as the #3 or 4 scorer on a contender.

One of the great guys in the nba. Really miss and appreciate that about him.

It's definitely gotta sting to see them win it immediately after moving you, and I don't think it's controversial to say we were never gonna win it with him. Has to be a hit to your confidence, but I also think these guys are self aware enough to understand the gap between themselves and truly great players like Kawhi.

Duffman100 wrote:

WuTang_OG wrote:still love him

Yup he was never gonna get us to the promised land. But much respect for him establishing us as a consistent winner

Agreed. It was as much DeRozan as it was Lowry to co-lead this team as consistent winners in 2013-2018. And while it was true DeRozan would never lead us to the promised land, neither would Lowry without Kawhi.

Also we wouldn't have got Kawhi without DeRozan in that trade. So while we heap lots of praise about Lowry and retiring his jersey and all, we seem to forget DeRozan's contribution was also key. I don't think it's right to retire one jersey and not the other.

NinjaBro wrote:Retire that man's jersey!

We need to trade Siakam for AJ Griffen before it's too late! - PhilBlackson

Yeah it seems obvious. #1 all-time leading scorer and we were a winning team with him as well.

Scase wrote:It's definitely gotta sting to see them win it immediately after moving you, and I don't think it's controversial to say we were never gonna win it with him. Has to be a hit to your confidence, but I also think these guys are self aware enough to understand the gap between themselves and truly great players like Kawhi.

Also Kawhi being another SoCal kid. That seems to be a pretty tight fraternity in NBA circles.

Now I'm not saying we would have won with Demar but I would have loved to see him with this team with the 2019 version of Siakam and Gasol. We legit would have been similar to those Memphis teams but with a true wing scorer and better depth. Part of me thinks we could have gone pretty far with that type of team.

Tor_Raps wrote:Now I'm not saying we would have won with Demar but I would have loved to see him with this team with the 2019 version of Siakam and Gasol. We legit would have been similar to those Memphis teams but with a true wing scorer and better depth. Part of me thinks we could have gone pretty far with that type of team.

The thing is, you dont get 2019 Siakam without Kawhi. He played as well as he did due to Kawhi being a true #1 option and massive threat on offence, DD was never that. Kawhi being such a focus defensively is what allowed Siakam to play to the level he did.

I still think it's a 2nd round exit.

Scase wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:Now I'm not saying we would have won with Demar but I would have loved to see him with this team with the 2019 version of Siakam and Gasol. We legit would have been similar to those Memphis teams but with a true wing scorer and better depth. Part of me thinks we could have gone pretty far with that type of team.

The thing is, you dont get 2019 Siakam without Kawhi. He played as well as he did due to Kawhi being a true #1 option and massive threat on offence, DD was never that. Kawhi being such a focus defensively is what allowed Siakam to play to the level he did.

I still think it's a 2nd round exit.

Not going to agree with you there. Go check Siakam's numbers during all the games Kawhi sat that season. Demar still would have been the 1st option down the stretch. Demar never truly got to play with a scoring option like Siakam once he established himself during his entire Raptor tenure.

Now I know come playoff time, there is 0 chance we advance past the Sixers that season but the nba was ridiculously top heavy that season. In a normal year, I think that Raptors team could make a deep run in the playoffs.

Take the MLE and come home Demar.

Tor_Raps wrote:Now I'm not saying we would have won with Demar but I would have loved to see him with this team with the 2019 version of Siakam and Gasol. We legit would have been similar to those Memphis teams but with a true wing scorer and better depth. Part of me thinks we could have gone pretty far with that type of team.

We beat ORL and loss to PHI. Or are a much lower seed anyways.

DD/Siakam wouldn’t have fit well like Kawhi did. To similar and not enough shooting

YogurtProducer wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:Now I'm not saying we would have won with Demar but I would have loved to see him with this team with the 2019 version of Siakam and Gasol. We legit would have been similar to those Memphis teams but with a true wing scorer and better depth. Part of me thinks we could have gone pretty far with that type of team.

We beat ORL and loss to PHI. Or are a much lower seed anyways.

DD/Siakam wouldn’t have fit well like Kawhi did. To similar and not enough shooting

Ya no chance we beat Philly but the nba was extremely top heavy that season. The season right after became extremely balanced and I truly think we had a chance to win it all that year. Heck, I think we could have won in 2020 anyways if Siakam didnt forget how to play basketball in the bubble.