Toronto Raptors fans are well-acquainted with the trade that netted them Kawhi Leonard. The one-year stint the Klaw had up north ended in a championship run, vindicating the decision to send DeMar DeRozan packing.
While Raptors fans would do the trade a hundred times over, it was certainly bittersweet that DeRozan wasn't a part of the team that won it all.
In a recent interview with Draymond Green via Bleacher Report, the former Raptors star opened up on the moments leading up to when he found out he was headed to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard.
DeMar was asked specifically how long it was between his last communication with the Raptors front office and the moment he knew he got traded.
Via Bleacher Report:
“Two days,” said DeRozan. “It was two days. I went to Vegas. We all met. We had a f–ing dinner y'know and have a sit-down, have a conversation about like, all right, we about to do this thing. We're about to give it another shot, blah, blah, blah.”
“And two days later you get a call – that was the s–t that hurt. Like, tell me beforehand like, ‘look, there's a possibility, we're thinking about doing this', cool. Y'know what I mean?”
DeRozan said he was watching a movie in the theaters, Equalizer 2, when Raptors head honcho Masai Ujiri sent him a text to give him a call. He was on his way home when the two got to talking.
“He call me back. And he just asked, ‘how was the movie?' Like some casual s–t. I'm like the movie was cool, what's up? He said, ‘Yeah, we just traded you to San Antonio. I just wanted to let you know it's gonna come out in the morning.'”
The soon-to-be-traded Raptors star claimed he asked his driver to drop him off right then and there. DeRozan just sat by the curb outside of a fast food joint and gave Kyle Lowry a call.
Raptors fans will be the first to tell you that DeMar DeRozan was every bit a part of the championship run as everyone else who was on the roster. Hopefully he gets the full appreciation he deserves when the team inevitably retires his jersey up in the rafters.
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