DeMar DeRozan Gets Nice Welcome In Return To Toronto

DeMar DeRozen spent the first nine season of his NBA career in Toronto. He’s the franchise’s all time leader in points (13,296), field goals made (4,716), free throws made (4,716) and games played (675). He’s also a four time NBA All Star. His time in Toronto ended when the Raptors traded him to San Antonio as part of the deal to acquire Kawhi Leonard. It’s never easy to predict how fans will respond to a former player when he returns to town but DeRozen was shown plenty of love from the Raptors’ faithful.

DeRozen was traded to San Antonio in July along with Jakob Poeltl and a draft pick for mercurial Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The Raptors are now near the top of the NBA standings, trailing the Milwaukee Bucks by one game for the lead in the Eastern Conference as well as the best record in the league. The Spurs are in a mix with a number of other teams trying to hold on to a playoff spot in the highly competitive Western Conference.

Toronto fans gave DeRozen several enthusiastic ovations before and during the game. He says that he was ‘humbled’ by the response:

“It’s an honor. It’s been practically my whole career here. To come back and get a reception like that is definitely humbling, beyond gratifying, and I appreciate it. Walking down the floor [after the game] hit me more than anything.”

DeRozen’s current San Antonio teammate and another former Raptor Rudy Gay says that the reaction was well deserved:

“It was good for him. He deserved that and more. He did a lot for this city, this organization, and I believe he deserved every bit of cheers that he got.”

Unfortunately for DeRozen, the game itself didn’t have a ‘happy ending’. In fact, it was his turnover in the final seconds that sealed the victory for the hometown Raptors which put a bit of a damper on the otherwise memorable evening:

“It made it exciting, made it fun to go out there, play and compete. It came down to a couple of plays. It sucks that the critical play was me turning the ball over. But for the most part, I think it was a hell of a game.”

Kawhi Leonard gave his account of the finish:

“We just grinded away. Kyle (Raptors’ teammate Kyle Lowrey) told us we were going to win this game. We all believed that we were, and you know tonight was like a playoff game. We had to grind it out all the way to the end.”

Toronto is a +200 co-favorite with Milwaukee to win the Eastern Conference. NBA Championship futures odds have the Raptors as the third choice at +1000 with the Golden State Warriors a -235 favorite to repeat.