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A little over a week ago, news came down the wire stating that the Toronto Raptors had traded DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a protected 2019 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
Since then, there have been several reports indicating that DeRozan and Leonard were less than pleased with this deal. After all, Toronto to Texas and vice-versa is a big move. Despite the proverbial turbulence, DeRozan says he is ready to learn as much as possible from long-time Spurs forward Manu Ginobili — if he returns to play for his 17th season.
“I hope he does (come back for another season),” DeRozan told Tom Orsborn of San Antonio Express News, referring to Ginobili. “I’ve been a fan of his way before I was in the league. It would be great just to learn from a guy like that and pick his brain.”
Ginobili, now 40 years of age, has been a fixture in San Antonio since 1999, when the Spurs drafted the Argentinian hooper with their 57th overall pick in the Draft. It's safe to say that he's played a huge role in the team's success over those years. In fact, Ginobili was a part of four Spurs championships (2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014).
Initially, this deal rubbed DeRozan the wrong way. After all, he was the man in Toronto. In fact, DeRozan is the Raptors' all-time leader in games played and points scored. Furthermore, the Compton, California native had been with Toronto since the 2009 Draft, when he was selected with the 9th overall pick.
Article Continues Below“I understand how the game works, how the business works,” DeRozan recently told SportsNet. “My mindset was that I was always going to be in Toronto my whole career, but I was never naive. Just let me know. That’s where my frustration came from. And I think it showed. From the fans to even myself. It just caught me completely off guard. … To hit me with that at midnight out the blue. Like, c’mon. Two days prior, it was asked, ‘Is anything going on?’ If it is just let me know because the rumours keep coming up. Two days later, you’re going here.”
Now that a few days have passed, DeRozan seems to warming up to playing in San Antonio. Near the end of Tuesday's Team USA practice, DeRozan was seen hamming it up with coach Popovich on the bench, which is certainly a good sign.
Via Tim Reynolds of NBA.com and The Associated Press:
“It means everything,” DeRozan said of playing for coach Popovich. “I could have ended up in the middle of nowhere with Joe Blow. I ended up in a great place that wanted me that strives for greatness. You can't ask for nothing better than that.”
When life throws a bad pass, you just have to make do with it. It sounds like DeRozan is ready to accept this change and move forward. Let's see how the next few chapters of his story play out.
