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

[sycammer]

Kawhi the raptor goat. He’ll get us further in 1 year than Derozan did in 9

i hope we hit 60 wins next season but i wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

I will be fine if this wins between 52-55 wins, what’s matters is the playoffs.

Raptors will be in top 3 seeds (or worse top 4 seed) , it’s going to be interesting to see how our team performs without nervous wreck like Casey who couldn’t handle the pressure & finally we should have a player who doesn’t underperform like he is a young rookie learning the game for the 1st time

[Vlade Divac]

Kawhi the raptor goat. He’ll get us further in 1 year than Derozan did in 9

i hope we hit 60 wins next season but i wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

I agree that San Antonio is easily going to win 60 games. You got significantly better with the caliber of player you got. Few teams in the West got so dramatically better. I can easily see you in Western Finals really challenging GSW.

[sycammer]

Kawhi the raptor goat. He’ll get us further in 1 year than Derozan did in 9

i hope we hit 60 wins next season but i wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

I agree that San Antonio is easily going to win 60 games. You got significantly better with the caliber of player you got. Few teams in the West got so dramatically better. I can easily see you in Western Finals really challenging GSW.

60 wins in the WC!!

The WC Playoff picture looks like this

GSW
Houston
OKC
Utah
Portland
Lakers
Spurs
Pelicans

Heck I can’t figure out how Denver & t-wolves will make the playoffs

[Vlade Divac]

i hope we hit 60 wins next season but i wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

I agree that San Antonio is easily going to win 60 games. You got significantly better with the caliber of player you got. Few teams in the West got so dramatically better. I can easily see you in Western Finals really challenging GSW.

60 wins in the WC!!

The WC Playoff picture looks like this

GSW
Houston
OKC
Utah
Portland
Lakers
Spurs
Pelicans

Heck I can’t figure out how Denver & t-wolves will make the playoffs

Hmmm...

I was just making fun of the poster (DD fanboy) who has SAS logo and talking: I hope "we" win 60 ...

Of course they are not going to win 60. I think their best would be to #8.

[Johnny Bball]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/there-was-no-good-way-for-raptors-to-trade-demar-derozan-and-five-other-thoughts-around-the-nba/

This is a nice summary. Maybe it doesn’t stink of hatred enough for some of you, but he’s right all around.

[Courtside]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/there-was-no-good-way-for-raptors-to-trade-demar-derozan-and-five-other-thoughts-around-the-nba/

This is a nice summary. Maybe it doesn’t stink of hatred enough for some of you, but he’s right all around.

"It was always going to be brutal finding out it was not reciprocal" is a very good way to put it. The fact is that Masai was in a no-win situation because Demar was not going to take the news well, no matter what. Advance warning or not, chances are that Demar responds in very much the same way, so why then would Masai risk saying anything early and screwing up the trade? He would be delinquent in his job to do so - so I feel that part of DD's interview is unfair.

Being hurt and angry were to be expected and everyone would understand if he expressed that in proper words when commenting. The problem (or hatred as you call it) everyone has is that he didn't express that in professional way and instead went into attack mode on social media, causing an anti-Raptors backlash that was immature and unnecessary. Then when he upped the game with the interview and more or less conformed that Masai's "miscommunication" answer was in fact correct, he moved the goalposts from being miseld, to not getting enough warning - which as noted above is not reasonable. It's not worthy of putting the franchise on blast in this way.

People are saying to "let him be, he needs time to get over the hurt" are wrong to excuse any and every form of expression he chooses to do his venting. There are good ways and bad ways to to that, and he is doing it in a very bad way.

[XxIronChainzxX]

Sad to see the RealGM hive mind turn against DeRozan so viciously. The 13 year olds making the Lebronto memes must have really damaged some of the more emotionally vulnerable members of this board judging by the outlash at DeRozan.

I have been on this board for a decade now and an inordinate amount of time and energy was spent ruing the fact that we could not attract or retain star players in Toronto. We finally get a star player who not only fully embraces the team and city but actually helps us become a good team a winning team and he is **** on when he is shown the door. Meanwhile posters are still dreaming about the corpse of VC signing with the team. The hate and negativity on this board towards Demar is gross.

Also this whole beef between Ujiri and Demar means nothing. The NBA is a small community and all the players are friends/train with each other. You think players aren’t airing grievances amongst themselves? Jordan hated Krause, LBJ hates Gilbert, Thomas hates Ainge this is normal for the NBA and no need to get your panties in a twist cause Demar aired some dirty laundry in public. It will be forgotten in approximately 3 weeks and no one cares except the RealGM F5 Warriors. Go outside and enjoy the weather and look forward to seeing Kawhi in a Raps uniform. Demar should be treated like the GOAT Raptor that he is.

There's no "star" that we got. The stars we had were Vince and (kind of) Bosh. If we had a star player we 1) wouldn't have traded him and 2) wouldn't have been humiliated so frequently in the playoffs. I get respecting DD but you see this forum blow up over this because it's by no means obvious or common a view that DD is a star.

[sycammer]

I agree that San Antonio is easily going to win 60 games. You got significantly better with the caliber of player you got. Few teams in the West got so dramatically better. I can easily see you in Western Finals really challenging GSW.

60 wins in the WC!!

The WC Playoff picture looks like this

GSW
Houston
OKC
Utah
Portland
Lakers
Spurs
Pelicans

Heck I can’t figure out how Denver & t-wolves will make the playoffs

Hmmm...

I was just making fun of the poster (DD fanboy) who has SAS logo and talking: I hope "we" win 60 ...

Of course they are not going to win 60. I think their best would be to #8.

Green font would have helped

[WuTang_CMB]

Read on Twitter

[Volcano]

Sad to see the RealGM hive mind turn against DeRozan so viciously. The 13 year olds making the Lebronto memes must have really damaged some of the more emotionally vulnerable members of this board judging by the outlash at DeRozan.

I have been on this board for a decade now and an inordinate amount of time and energy was spent ruing the fact that we could not attract or retain star players in Toronto. We finally get a star player who not only fully embraces the team and city but actually helps us become a good team a winning team and he is **** on when he is shown the door. Meanwhile posters are still dreaming about the corpse of VC signing with the team. The hate and negativity on this board towards Demar is gross.

Also this whole beef between Ujiri and Demar means nothing. The NBA is a small community and all the players are friends/train with each other. You think players aren’t airing grievances amongst themselves? Jordan hated Krause, LBJ hates Gilbert, Thomas hates Ainge this is normal for the NBA and no need to get your panties in a twist cause Demar aired some dirty laundry in public. It will be forgotten in approximately 3 weeks and no one cares except the RealGM F5 Warriors. Go outside and enjoy the weather and look forward to seeing Kawhi in a Raps uniform. Demar should be treated like the GOAT Raptor that he is.

There's no "star" that we got. The stars we had were Vince and (kind of) Bosh. If we had a star player we 1) wouldn't have traded him and 2) wouldn't have been humiliated so frequently in the playoffs. I get respecting DD but you see this forum blow up over this because it's by no means obvious or common a view that DD is a star.

If we notified DD earlier, he’d just start whining about being put on the trade block despite his loyalty. Real disrespectful.

[Morris_Shatford]

Derozan's take on the whole situation is coming across as super petty.... Honestly i don't think he's ever been the brightest guy and I think he just has a really difficult time putting everything into perspective...

Most professionals would be able to accept the responsibility for their failures... Both him and Casey on their way out both acted in such a way that imo tarnishes their reputation of being good professionals.

What did they honestly expect? That they could keep getting swept year after year with no consequences, with everyone sucking their dick and blaming everyone else? It's honestly ridiculous but the raptors take blame in creation this monster. From as soon as he was drafted they be been sucking him off as the future of the franchise with no consequences with no accountability t he y rotated every role player around him to try to get better and for him to a t like he should be the only guy on the tram to Not get the blame is arrogant.

A quote from the great Jimmy McGinty springs to mind;
"Winners always want the ball... when the game is on the line"

While this of applicable literally here is also a figurative relevance as well.
Winners are willing to shoulder the result of what happens because the want the ball in their hands, the buck ultimately stops with them be it a win or a loss.

While I have been a fierce defender of DeRozan during his tenure in Toronto, the interview made it a very clear he has no interest in the accountability aspect of being "a star" and that's why we were never going to take that next step as long as he was the best player on the roster.

If he can't look back at his performance in the playoffs over the past five seasons and feel some degree of responsibility for the team having such a putrid playoff record compared to their regular season record, how could he ever be expected to lead a team? Accountability starts from the top.

Even the way he phrases the comment "so it's just me and Casey" just reeks of someone that cannot comprehend the situation properly. What would make him feel better if Masai traded every single player away? Would that make more sense to him?

You get swept in back to back seasons by the same team largely as a result of the same lethargic performance, I would say that the head coach and the "star" player is the first place you look.

Most players should understand that.

Maybe he can take some solace in the fact that Alfonzo McKinnie was a waived. Now he can sleep at night knowing it's just: me and Casey and McKinnie

[Sherlock]

Make no mistake,

Demar on that special has FOOOOKED our organization 10 ways side ways.

Man we need to start throwing money at babies and children with diseases or something for our optics.

Shoot, he just took our team credibility down a lot.

Have you heard about all the good we are doing in Africa?

Also there was that poor Brazilian child we sponsored for 3 years!

[HOOOMAN]

If he can't look back at his performance in the playoffs over the past five seasons and feel some degree of responsibility for the team having such a putrid playoff record compared to their regular season record, how could he ever be expected to lead a team? Accountability starts from the top.

Even the way he phrases the comment "so it's just me and Casey" just reeks of someone that cannot comprehend the situation properly. What would make him feel better if Masai traded every single player away? Would that make more sense to him?

You get swept in back to back seasons by the same team largely as a result of the same lethargic performance, I would say that the head coach and the "star" player is the first place you look.

absolutely


im sure his cowardly lion act also rubbed off on the rest of the team. Being a nice, vulnerable guy is great in social situations but that doesnt make you a good leader.

When things got rough and tough, he would give up. not even looking at playoffs...look at anytime there was contact made with him and he didnt get a foul call..he would literally sulk for the next 2-3 plays resulting in him playing even worse defense than usual

[bonbons]

Demar is a child, it doesn't matter if he has a wife and son. Any adult could see the nba is about winning and Derozan sucks, demar is such a mental midget he probably doesn't even realize he sucks at defense. He should be grateful to Masai for maxing him out, if he was drafted by ANY other team he wouldn't have been a guaranteed starter from day 1. He actually should be thanking BC for trashing the raptors and letting Demar become our "allstar." what a joke of an allstar. Cool he was good in the community, he made casual fans talk about basketball, but he was garbage on court. Thats all that matters. What kind of basketball fan watches Demar shoot up contested fadeaway 1 on 2's, gets abused by other teams, and still say "wow we will definitely be getting better with Demar next year." so delusional. The media I can see being bamboozled by Demar since I guarantee none of them watch the raptors play.

[Hero Ball]

Nah I'm pretty sympathetic to Demar here. He clearly was committed to the franchise and this caught him off base and he's having difficulty dealing with it. Its like a breakup; its emotionally heavy and I'm sure a few months out he'll regret it, so I'll give him the break.
But Haynes and ESPN can suck a bag of d*cks.

I'm sympathetic to Demar too - in terms of feeling ditched - but that doesn't mean you go on Jerry Springer, you know?

that's kinda the point tho...he doesn't feel heard...maybe feels Masai was a bit too harsh in the team's failures and needs to defend himself and his record...his statements make the case right there...he feels that casey and himself were being singled out and blamed for the team's failures...it sucks to hear that you aren't good enough despite trying your best...like I said I'll cut him some slack for this one.

Tells you how warped his sense of perspective is. As somebody else further upthread said, the team got rid of a long list of guys who were part of the failures: Lou Williams, Trashquez, Carroll, Patterson, TRoss, CoJo, Biz and at times benched others like JV, Ibaka, and sometimes saviour Norm. The line of scapegoats was getting short.

Do you see DD out there correcting the legions of fanboys who give him the lion's share of the credit for helping the team reach the ECF when he personally had a historically bad playoff performance during the run? Hell no.

Our defensive mastermind coach Casey put the ball in Derozan's hands and told him he could empty the clip and not to worry about the other half of the game. There was none of that "you'll get to play when you dominate out there" talk. In 5 straight playoffs DD put up the most shots per game, the highest usage on the team, but spent most years at the bottom of the efficiency rankings of any of the rotation players.

Meanwhile other players who have come and gone throughout the years who could have benefited from a more structured system than Casey streetball are blamed for "not stepping up". DD want to talk about sacrifice? There's a long list of players who had to sacrifice their game for Casey to center the world around Derozan.

Ujiri gave Casey+DD 5 years of playoffs (3 years too many) to prove their worth and they didn't. Meet the consequences. Too bad Derozan won't take any responsibility because his coddled tenure with the team puffed up his ego a little too much. He's fine basking in the glory of success but is too much of a coward to accept blame for failure.

[Joker]

Demar did everything we could've asked of him or any face of our franchise --- except playoff perform --- which is really the most foundational thing to ask of a face of a franchise.

[RonaldArtest]

Sad to see the RealGM hive mind turn against DeRozan so viciously. The 13 year olds making the Lebronto memes must have really damaged some of the more emotionally vulnerable members of this board judging by the outlash at DeRozan.

I have been on this board for a decade now and an inordinate amount of time and energy was spent ruing the fact that we could not attract or retain star players in Toronto. We finally get a star player who not only fully embraces the team and city but actually helps us become a good team a winning team and he is **** on when he is shown the door. Meanwhile posters are still dreaming about the corpse of VC signing with the team. The hate and negativity on this board towards Demar is gross.

Also this whole beef between Ujiri and Demar means nothing. The NBA is a small community and all the players are friends/train with each other. You think players aren’t airing grievances amongst themselves? Jordan hated Krause, LBJ hates Gilbert, Thomas hates Ainge this is normal for the NBA and no need to get your panties in a twist cause Demar aired some dirty laundry in public. It will be forgotten in approximately 3 weeks and no one cares except the RealGM F5 Warriors. Go outside and enjoy the weather and look forward to seeing Kawhi in a Raps uniform. Demar should be treated like the GOAT Raptor that he is.

There's no "star" that we got. The stars we had were Vince and (kind of) Bosh. If we had a star player we 1) wouldn't have traded him and 2) wouldn't have been humiliated so frequently in the playoffs. I get respecting DD but you see this forum blow up over this because it's by no means obvious or common a view that DD is a star.

If we notified DD earlier, he’d just start whining about being put on the trade block despite his loyalty. Real disrespectful.

That's a pretty big assumption, given how little he complained during his time in Toronto.

[Morris_Shatford]

absolutely
im sure his cowardly lion act also rubbed off on the rest of the team. Being a nice, vulnerable guy is great in social situations but that doesnt make you a good leader.

When things got rough and tough, he would give up. not even looking at playoffs...look at anytime there was contact made with him and he didn't get a foul call..he would literally sulk for the next 2-3 plays resulting in him playing even worse defense than usual

That is certainly a concern;
When you have a fairly small roster compared to other sports the guys at the top can effect the team in a fairly significant way.

Obviously none of us were in the locker room and all we can do is speculate, but he finally faces the music for five seasons of substandard playoff play and he seems to refuse to accept his share of the responsibility as to why he is in another uniform and why his coach was fired. If that is the mentality he had in the locker room then he should have been shipped out far sooner.

[Sherlock]

Demar is a child, it doesn't matter if he has a wife and son. Any adult could see the nba is about winning and Derozan sucks, demar is such a mental midget he probably doesn't even realize he sucks at defense. He should be grateful to Masai for maxing him out, if he was drafted by ANY other team he wouldn't have been a guaranteed starter from day 1. He actually should be thanking BC for trashing the raptors and letting Demar become our "allstar." what a joke of an allstar. Cool he was good in the community, he made casual fans talk about basketball, but he was garbage on court. Thats all that matters. What kind of basketball fan watches Demar shoot up contested fadeaway 1 on 2's, gets abused by other teams, and still say "wow we will definitely be getting better with Demar next year." so delusional. The media I can see being bamboozled by Demar since I guarantee none of them watch the raptors play.

That's not really true. DeMar is in the same category as guys like Andre Drummond, or Aaron Gordon or Andrew Wiggins. Good players, and even possibly the best players on bad teams, but not true superstars. Under the way the current CBA is structured, those guys will always get overpaid. It's not just the Raptors that have done this.

[Volcano]

There's no "star" that we got. The stars we had were Vince and (kind of) Bosh. If we had a star player we 1) wouldn't have traded him and 2) wouldn't have been humiliated so frequently in the playoffs. I get respecting DD but you see this forum blow up over this because it's by no means obvious or common a view that DD is a star.

If we notified DD earlier, he’d just start whining about being put on the trade block despite his loyalty. Real disrespectful.

That's a pretty big assumption, given how little he complained during his time in Toronto.

Not a big assumption at all. He didn’t want to be traded period. Does it make a difference how the Raps go about it?

Masai told him one night beforehand..what would make it better? One week beforehand? Not to mention, it’s completely unrealistic to tell him anything when the trade may not even happen