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The Toronto Raptors had been holding a steady ship throughout the early part of the season, hovering among the top-four teams of the Eastern Conference, but still failing to make the shocking impact with their revamped offense.
On Dec. 19, shooting guard DeMar DeRozan was called into president Masai Ujiri's office — a somewhat unnerving request.
“I didn't know what the hell was going on,” DeRozan recalled, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe. “I thought, ‘S**t, I know I can't be traded.' It was like I was being called into the principal's office.'”
Raptors general manager Bobby Webster, along with the three highest-ranked coaches in the team asked the Compton native to be their Kobe Bryant, with one caveat — he needed to shoot more 3-pointers.
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DeRozan was ready, he had worked on the shot, but was still reluctant to shoot it repeatedly in games — but that meeting was the flip of the switch the team was looking for.
The next night against the Charlotte Hornets, DeRozan went 3-of-4 from distance, only to best that performance with a 6-of-9 outing from deep against the Philadelphia 76ers — something that would make everyone not watching the game take a double-look at the box score.
“I wanted to jump out of my seat watching,” said Chris Farr, DeRozan's longtime trainer, who has watched him work incessantly on his range during summer workouts. “He has worked so hard. I always say, he's not Beyonce. He didn't wake up looking like this.”
DeRozan hit 39 percent of his 3-pointers in December, and while he's still adapting to making that a part of his game — he's attempting a career-high 3.6 threes per game, which has added a brand new dimension to his already-dangerous perimeter game.
