The Toronto Raptors are 34-19 since trading Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 9.
“The move was a good situation for both of us,” DeMar DeRozan said of Gay. “We always hate to see our close friends get traded. I think he’s definitely going to help the Sacramento Kings out a lot, and we’re moving in the right direction, as well. I think it was a win-win situation. You can’t dwell on it too much. I know he’s happy to be in a new situation and get his career restarted. I’m happy for him.”
DeRozan said Gay encouraged him to take more responsibility for the team’s fate after the trade.
“The last four years here, I’ve always been under somebody and I had to learn from them,” DeRozan said. “And the player he is, I just learned from him. He just took me under his wing and I just always listened to Rudy and got a lot of insight. When he got traded, the first thing he told me, ‘This is your time and it’s time to take advantage.’ That meant a lot, just coming from somebody like that.”
