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San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan was not happy when the Toronto Raptors traded him.
DeRozan signed a five-year deal with the Raptors during the summer of 2016, opting to not even test the free-agent market, as he wanted to show his loyalty to Toronto. There were rumors that the Los Angeles Lakers would be interested, but DeRozan didn't care because Toronto was home.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2018, and the Raptors dealt DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in a blockbuster trade that sent disgruntled star Kawhi Leonard to Canada.
As much as the deal bothered DeRozan, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says it was never a big issue, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports:
“There was no doubt he was hurt and a little bit angry (about the trade), but anybody would be considering the circumstances,” said Popovich. “But he got over it… We talked about it, but he handled it pretty much on his own because he is so mature. That was never a big issue.”
DeRozan's tenure in Toronto ended ugly in general, as the Raptors were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2018 playoffs. DeRozan was actually benched in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of that series.
With it becoming increasingly obvious that the Raptors were never going to get over the hump with the DeRozan and Kyle Lowry-led core, they jumped at the opportunity to snatch Leonard, and DeRozan ended up being a casualty.
Heck, even if Leonard did not become available, the writing seemed to be on the wall for DeRozan that his future in Toronto would not last much longer, so at this point, he should just be happy that he was actually traded to a good franchise.
