DeRozan says he laid the groundwork for the Raptors success.
Over the past few weeks, Taylor Rooks Bleacher Report has been releasing episodes her latest interview series Take It There with Taylor Rooks and today, episode 8 came out with San Antonio Spurs star, DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan was a part a blockbuster trade last summer that saw the Toronto Raptors trade him to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs star was heartbroken that the team that drafted him also traded him. Adding to the heartbreak is the fact that the Raptors are in the Finals the first year after his departure.
As you would expect, Rooks asked DeRozan about how he felt after the trade and he had some interesting insight on it all.
“Honestly, I don’t even think I said this – I probably said this to my own inner circle. But if it wasn’t for all the years and groundwork that I did before then, none those things would’ve been possible,” DeRozan explained. “Yes, I fought. I sacrificed. I pushed the limits to where I had to be the sacrificial lamb. You just have to sit back and understand you’re the reason so many things were even possible.”
DeRozan also talked about the heartbreak when it comes to being traded, saying he put so much work in with the Raptors organization that he couldn’t help but feel slighted.
“Being invested from 19 to I was, what, 28? Everything you learned was from there. Everything you gained was from there,” DeRozan told Rooks. “So for that to be gone like that, when you least expect it, it just throws you f guard. We’re human at the end the day.”