DeMar DeRozan On Raptors: 'I Gave Everything I Had To That Team, 'It's B.S. To Me'
DeMar DeRozan said he was shocked at the trade that sent him from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs and added that he wasn't treated with the respect he thought he deserved.
DeRozan was traded along with center Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 draft pick to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
In an interview with ESPN.com, DeRozan explained the emotions of being traded. He says that the Raptors management, specificaily president Masai Ujiri assured him he wasn't going to be traded.
"I felt like I wasn’t treated—with what I sacrificed for nine years—with the respect that I thought I deserved,” DeRozan said. “By just giving me the say-so of letting me know something’s going on, or it’s a chance [that I’d be traded]. That’s all I wanted. I’m not saying you don’t have to trade me. Just let me know something’s going on because I sacrificed everything. Just let me know, you know what I mean? That’s all I ask.
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"At the end of the day, I gave everything I had to that team, it's B.S. to me."
DeRozan spent nine seasons in Toronto and made four All-Star teams. He also won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio as part of USA Basketball.
The 28–year-old DeRozan will be reunited with former teammate Rudy Gay in San Antonio.
"I'm still in shock. Second person I talked to that night, that I'm close friends with, was Rudy Gay," he said. "I was upset. And I called him, like, 'Man, dude's just traded me.' Rudy was like, 'What? To who?' And I was like, 'To y'all.' He started laughing."
DeRozan averaged 23 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds last season, helping to lead the Raptors to a franchise–record 59 wins.
“A guy that’s been proven to prove himself time and time again, and this time around, having the biggest chip on his shoulder ever that I done had in my career," DeRozan said, when aaked what kind of player the Spurs are getting.
