DeMar DeRozan may have failed to land with the Toronto Raptors for a possible reunion earlier in the offseason, but he still has great love for the city and its fans.
DeRozan, who is now with the Denver Nuggets, said Toronto has a special place in his heart after playing there for the first nine seasons of his NBA career.
For him, the Raptors will always be the No. 1 team in his heart.
“Yeah. This’ll always be home for me. 9 years of my career,” DeRozan said via Off the Roster podcast. “This was the foundation of me as a basketball player, as a human being. This was my first home. This was the first everything for me. Nothing will ever replace that. Everything that I created with all these guys that’s here, I had the opportunity to play with. For me, it’s always going to be number one.”
“Yeah. This’ll always be home for me. 9 years of my career. This was the foundation of me as a basketball player, as a human being. This was my first home. This was the first everything for me.
DeMar DeRozan’s Legacy With The Toronto Raptors
DeRozan is the Raptors franchise’s all-time leader in games played with 675, minutes played at 22,986, and total points with 13,296.
Drafted ninth overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, DeRozan grew from a raw prospect into a four-time All-Star and the foundational leader of the most successful era in Raptors history up to that point.
Alongside backcourt partner Kyle Lowry, he led Toronto to five consecutive playoff appearances, including an Eastern Conference Finals trip in 2016. He was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in the summer of 2018 in the deal that brought Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
Leonard led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title, the franchise’s first-ever championship.
DeRozan has played for the San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings since the Raptors traded him in 2018.
Earlier this offseason, DeRozan signed a one-year, $3.9 million veteran minimum contract with the Denver Nuggets for his 18th NBA season.
There were rumors of him possibly rejoining the Raptors this offseason, following his release from the Kings, but nothing happened.
Nonetheless, DeRozan is expected to fill a major bench-scoring need following the departure of Tim Hardaway Jr. and the trade of Peyton Watson to Cleveland.
DeMar DeRozan Gets Candid About NBA Retirement
DeMar DeRozan opened up about his current realizations about a looming NBA retirement, saying that it is already in his mind. Yet, he refused to dwell on it and vowed to leave it all on the court once everything is said and done.
“You definitely have those thoughts,” DeRozan said in his interview with The Athletic. “It’s just the reality of it. … It comes down to how much longer you want to do it, how much longer you want to push yourself physically and mentally and emotionally to do something you love.”
“When I came in the league, I never would have imagined or thought I’d be playing that long. And when you get in, you don’t realize how fast and how much time goes by. … It’s a blessing to be able to play this long,” he said.
DeRozan has yet to win an NBA championship but he has a chance to win one with the Nuggets alongside Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, a core that has already won an NBA championship in 2023.
For now, DeRozan is expected to be a spark plug off the bench for the Nuggets.
DeMar DeRozan Gives Heartfelt Message To Toronto After Failed Raptors Reunion