San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan gave his former coach and now Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey an embrace before a game against each other.

Casey and DeRozan served as coach and player, respectively, for the Toronto Raptors for over seven years. Both contributed to bringing the Raptors back into playoff relevancy, and both were the downfall of their own end within the organization.

Casey was fired after winning the coach of the year award for completely revamping the team's offensive scheme. DeRozan became more of a playmaker, and the Raptors seemed like a true threat in the East. After again losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, the Raptors decided to fire him and move on.

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He eventually signed on to coach the Detroit Pistons, who had just fired their head coach Stan Van Gundy.

For DeRozan, it was a case of opportunity. The Raptors had planned to rebuild around Lowry and restart a new era from within. They promoted Nick Nurse as head coach and expected not to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

However, the San Antonio Spurs had moved on from Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green and dealt him to the Raptors for only DeRozan and Jakob Poetl. This allowed the Raptors to extend their playoff hopes for another year by adding Leonard, arguably a top-five player in the league.

So far, the Spurs have gone 23-17 and sit sixth in the Western Conference with DeRozan leading the way. The Pistons have gone 17-20 and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference.