DeMar DeRozan still has not swallowed the trade that took him out of Toronto to San Antonio. In an interview with ESPN, the former Raptors star showed all his sadness to leave the team that drafted him in 2009.
DeRozan, who was involved in the monster trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto, is still recovering from the shock a week after leaving the Queen City.
Named four times on the All-Star Team, DeRozan says the story would have been a lot different if GM Masai Ujiri had been honest with him.
The 28-year-old small forward makes it clear that he was given assurances that, when he asked if a trade was imminent or that anything was going on. Ujiri specifically didn’t let him know a trade was coming, according to DeRozan.
“I don’t want to play for San Antonio, I’ll look at my options, I might sit out, or I’ll ask to be traded again right away.” DeRozan said.
“I feel that I have not been treated properly after the sacrifices of the last nine seasons spent here. I thought I deserved a minimum of respect. At least warn me that something was happening, that there was a possibility that I would be exchanged. That’s all I wanted.
“In the end, I gave everything I had to the Raptors. The proof is that we improved as a team and I improved as a player.
“No matter whether I agree or disagree with the decision, I would have accepted it as long as I was warned. Don’t tell me something to finally do the opposite, that’s where the problem is.
DeMar DeRozan hitting a slam-dunk in the 2017 playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks. (Source:www.youtube.com)
“I’m not naive, I knew maybe one day I would be traded, but not at that time. Nothing, but nothing indicated that I was going to be exchanged. I was completely unprepared and that’s where my frustration comes from mine and that of several supporters also.” DeRozan added.
DeRozan signed a five-year, $139 million deal with the Toronto Raptors in July 2016. With a new challenge in front of him, DeRozan comes to San Antonio with the same goal of being the dominant player he has been, but this time with an attitude of “mistrust and detachment”.
