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DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry have played together for six seasons. The two All-Stars they have found some success in Toronto, getting to the playoffs every year since 2014. The Raptors have yet to make an NBA Finals appearance, and their source of misery in recent years has been LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
DeRozan did not make the playoffs until his fifth season in the NBA. He hoped the addition of Lowry in 2012 would help the team on his way to his first playoffs appearance. When Lowry arrived, DeMar remembers him being very quiet and distanced. He explained in a recent appearance on the Woj Podcast:
“We didn’t speak. We didn’t have a conversation. We didn’t hang out. We didn’t go eat. We didn’t sit next to each another. Nothing. I didn’t have his phone number. Nothing. He came in, and I don’t know what it was like, if he knew he was just going to be moved again or if he was just a piece… He kept his distance from everybody, everything. He really had that mindset coming in, like, ‘I’m not going to be here long.'”
And in fact, Lowry was one call away from being dealt to the New York Knicks in 2013. DeRozan did not want to be alone once again. He recalls:
“Kyle was practically gone. I remember Kyle came in the locker room and said, ‘Man, it was nice playing with you. I’m out of here. I’m done. I’m going to New York.' And I remember my frustration came in, too, like, ‘Man, I’m not trying to go through this again. I don’t want to be one of them players that never makes the playoffs for five years in. If you’re getting traded, too, I’m going to ask for a trade, too.'”
Fortunately for the Raptors, the Knicks backed out of the Lowry trade last moment. The Canadian team would have probably started another rebuild, yet again, and who knows where they would be today if it was not for Lowry and DeRozan.
