Derozan interview on ESPN, Tues 10pm EST (TONIGHT!)

[galeon110]

Man I got tears watching that interview, just seeing how devastated he is, it hit me right in the feels. You can tell he's still really hurt. Basketball and professional, and all this nonsense aside... Just listening to his tone and deep breathes, DeMar truly loves Toronto and the fans, this place really does mean home to him. That last part about all the memories in TO, you can tell by the specific memories he chose that they weren't just PR talk, he was actually recollecting his time here.

[Volcano]

What happens if DD gets whiff of the news and him or his agent tells the Spurs he doesn’t want to be there or sabotages the trade or lowers his trade value?

[RaptorNews]

lol@ "You put the blame on just me and Casey?"

When it's time for a new contract you let the raptors and the franchise know you're a max player and the franchise player. I deserve the max. But when we constantly lose to the Cavs, especially last year when we were better on paper at least, you feel the blame should be spread. You can't the a "superstar" when it's convenient Demar. You can tell he's mentally weak and thanked god lebron left the east. The west will really expose him, I'm telling you guys.

It seems unprecedented to fire your Coach of the Year and franchise player after fifty wins...

So just run it back year after year cause yay team?

[RaptorNews]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24184139/demar-derozan-dishes-trade-toronto-raptors-san-antonio-spurs-nba

CH: In that same news conference, he talked about how he gave the team a chance when he took his role. Do you think it was necessary for the organization to make that move and trade you? Why didn't things work out?

DD: I mean, when you say "them," that's kind of frustrating. Like, who is "them"? You put the blame on just me and Casey? Because obviously we are the only two who had to suffer from the loss that we had in the Cleveland series. But it's only one team that we lost to in the postseason -- and that team went to the Finals every single year. With an opportunity approaching itself, my mindset and the rest of my teammates' mindset was the only guy who was in the way of making that happen leaves. Now we got a great opportunity to do something that we haven't been able to do. At the end of the day, I gave everything I had to that team. And it showed, it showed in the progress we made as a team and me as an individual. So when you put that out there saying "gave them chances" and "I have to do something"... It's B.S. to me.

So glad we don't have a guy with this mentality on the team any longer. The Cavs were actually bad last year and completely there for the taking.

I don’t think Demar fully understands how much this franchise gave him. No other team would embrace a borderline top 15-20 guy where you talk about building them **** statues after their second consecutive sweep in the second round.

[Childs]

There is literally nothing crazy about the traded, except for the fact that the entitled drama queen thinks she should have the inside track with of her 27 million dollar sacrifice, and decided to go to the media about this supposed disrespect.

I don't know why being overpaid is Demar's fault. If someone gives you a contract worth more than your output, would you say no I won't take it? Even outside basketball, if you were in a profession where your boss gives you a salary more than your skillset, do you say "No Boss take some money back, I'm not worth that much". That overpaid contract that so many Raptor fans blame him for, is on Masai, not Demar. He has to evaluate the contracts he's giving out.

That's true, and I've been really harsh on Masai over the last two years over it.

It doesn't change the fact that derozan was compensated very generously for his work, and to make it sound like he sacrifices whatever to play here, and that he was doing us a favour of some sort is non sense.

His whole grip is he feels the team owes him for his contribution and he deserves to know Masai's plan before it materalizes, otherwise it's classified as disrespect. The bottom line is Masai didn't see it that way nor he needs to.

So he doesn't get owned to be told that he may be a trade piece? The guy attempts every summer to support the new guys in summer league and work with the young players every summer. Not every player has to do that. There are plenty of stars who just go on vacation and do jack. You spend 9 years with an organization, I think it's fair to at least know that there could be a chance to being traded.

By just giving me the say so of letting me know something's going on or it's a chance. That's all I wanted. That's all I wanted. I'm not saying, 'You don't have to trade me' or ... just let me know something is going on because I sacrificed everything. Just let me know. That's all I asked. Everybody know I'm the most low-maintenance person in the world. Just let me know, so I can prepare myself for whatever my next chapter is, and I didn't get that.

Based on this quote, all Masai had to say was "Hey you are our franchise player but there is a chance you could be traded." That's it.

[WuTang_CMB]

ESPN will do anything to blow this story up.

Casey and Demar were big reasons why we have failed in the post season.

And when both were fired/traded, they couldn't stop bitc*ing to the media

[RaptorsLife]

But it's only one team that we lost to in the postseason -- and that team went to the Finals every single year. With an opportunity approaching itself, my mindset and the rest of my teammates' mindset was the only guy who was in the way of making that happen leaves. Now we got a great opportunity to do something that we haven't been able to do.



SO **** HAPPY. This guy is gone idc if kawhi here for one year. This mentality Derozan had spread throughout the locker room that’s why we played like pussies against the cavs

[word]

he just upset he ain't going to be making anymore all-star games and also he will have someone forcing him to play defense now.

[Matty]

This was totally unnecessary a week after the trade. But then this was always the problem with DeRozan; accountability.

[Alpha Mentality]

I just watched the full interview. That was extremely emotional for me. DeMar is a really good dude and he really cared. He seems to have an issue solely with Masai and made that clear. I think he comes back one day. Who knows maybe 2 years under Pop can help fix the deficiencies in his game. I want the best for him I really do. I thought for the most part he spoke extremely well. A couple of clips I watched earlier were making me wonder a little bit. But the reporter was also really trying to lead him and I thought DeMar handled himself extremely well. Hes still shocked and upset. He could have really went off but he stayed composed.

[Lucky 24]

Demar is class. When he comes back it will be sold out and the ovation will be tremendous.

No doubt the reception will be lit. It's a moot point saying it will be sold out....every game for the last 5 years have been sold out.

[Alpha Mentality]

I blame ESPN way more than DeMar for this by the way. I doubt DeMar asked to do this and EPSN was really chasing down this story. I think DeMar went into this with fairly good intentions. It really does seem like ESPN is trying to throw shade at the Raptors every chance they get. Its glaringly obvious at this point. We aren't apart of there TV Package. Us succeeding does nothing for them. The American audience doesn't care about a Canadian team. Its unfortunate but its true.

[Lucky 24]

The NBA is all about drama. It's really this drama that has propelled it's popularity. It's the best league for hot takes and it's the reason so much energy is being spent by ESPN and Fox to cover all these stories that happens in the NBA.

A couple years ago it was all about Durant being a villian but now we barely care about that anymore. This Masai thing will also go away as long as the team does well and Kawai does his thing.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

So I just watched the whole thing, ESPN and Haynes were doing a total bait job, and with DeRozan still obviously emotional over the trade, he pretty much played right into it. Goodness.

ESPN is going to have a field day over this, and I can't say this does DeMar or Masai (especially him) any favors. Haynes needs to GTFO.

[WasteYute6]

Just watched the whole damn interview....1. ESPN and Chris Haynes are trying to make us look like the heel lol FOH 2. I always said I love DeMar for everything he represented as a person and a ambassador for us but he has to understand there’s no loyalty in the NBA or even in pro sports anymore. And also he had to understand he had 5 years of playoff basketball and the majority of the series we played we had home court advantage. We got swept 3 times and 2 of the 3 series we had home court advantage lol come on man something’s gotta change if you want the big prize. 3. This is exactly how a 1st breakup with anything in life happens. The 1st one is always the most painful but guess what we eventually get over it. Forgive but don’t forget DeMar. 4. As bad as I feel for DeMar ask any GM in the league and they will tell you Masai worked his **** magic on this trade and finally 5. We got **** Kawhi freakin Leonard idgaf we lit **** all the pussies in the NBA that are bad mouthing us because of this....we coming for everybody’s headtop this year


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[RaptorsLife]

I don’t mind being a Heel lol. That’s the best

[Childs]

ESPN will do anything to blow this story up.

Casey and Demar were big reasons why we have failed in the post season.

And when both were fired/traded, they couldn't stop bitc*ing to the media

And guess who decided to keep both of them? It's a 2 way street. The Raptors playoff failures are on GM as well as equally on the players, the coaches. These guys didn't put a gun to Masai's head and force him to give them their contracts. You know why also this story is getting blown out of proportion. It's freakin late July, all the major free agents have been signed and there is literally nothing to talk about. Media is all about sensationalism, what headline is going to get the most views and the most hashtags.

[Chandan]

I don't know why being overpaid is Demar's fault. If someone gives you a contract worth more than your output, would you say no I won't take it? Even outside basketball, if you were in a profession where your boss gives you a salary more than your skillset, do you say "No Boss take some money back, I'm not worth that much". That overpaid contract that so many Raptor fans blame him for, is on Masai, not Demar. He has to evaluate the contracts he's giving out.

That's true, and I've been really harsh on Masai over the last two years over it.

It doesn't change the fact that derozan was compensated very generously for his work, and to make it sound like he sacrifices whatever to play here, and that he was doing us a favour of some sort is non sense.

His whole grip is he feels the team owes him for his contribution and he deserves to know Masai's plan before it materalizes, otherwise it's classified as disrespect. The bottom line is Masai didn't see it that way nor he needs to.

So he doesn't get owned to be told that he may be a trade piece? The guy attempts every summer to support the new guys in summer league and work with the young players every summer. Not every player has to do that. There are plenty of stars who just go on vacation and do jack. You spend 9 years with an organization, I think it's fair to at least know that there could be a chance to being traded.

By just giving me the say so of letting me know something's going on or it's a chance. That's all I wanted. That's all I wanted. I'm not saying, 'You don't have to trade me' or ... just let me know something is going on because I sacrificed everything. Just let me know. That's all I asked. Everybody know I'm the most low-maintenance person in the world. Just let me know, so I can prepare myself for whatever my next chapter is, and I didn't get that.

Based on this quote, all Masai had to say was "Hey you are our franchise player but there is a chance you could be traded." That's it.

As a professional athlete, i believe that the notion that you could be traded at any time should always be on the back of your mind (especially after years of playoff blunders) unless you have a no trade claus. It's silly to expect otherwise, then why does it fall upon the management to inform him when it's himself that doesn't grasp the nature of the business? The act of even saying "yea you might be traded" could be detrimental towards the unity and stability of the team, not to mention any leaked sources can be used as leverage by trade partners and what not. I am sure I don't need to explain why it's not advisable to let others know of your intention in a competitive environment.

[Alpha Mentality]

I don’t mind being a Heel lol. That’s the best

We aren't really a heel though. ESPN wants us to go away. They don't profit from Canada. Unless stealing our best sports broadcasters counts.

[nestea]

Wondering what the Spurs are thinking about DD gong show melt down.

Perhaps they will trade him in August:)