The Toronto Raptors enter the 2024-25 NBA season as a rebuilding team as they don’t have much outside of Scottie Barnes and a couple of other young prospects.
Toronto signaled their intent to rebuild when they traded both Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby last season, and it was the right move as the team was quickly falling behind in the Eastern Conference.
The Raptors did well to capture the 2019 NBA Championship, though it came at the cost of trading away franchise star DeMar DeRozan.
Toronto dealt away DeRozan to bring in Kawhi Leonard, though the gamble paid off as the latter led them to the franchise’s first title.
DeRozan is now with the Sacramento Kings and remains one of the best pure scorers in the league, though he is still searching for his first ring.
As far as his relationship with the Raptors goes, DeRozan said he’s open to retiring with the team if the opportunity presents itself via Doug Smith.
“If I had the opportunity to do something like that, you can’t turn something like that down, to put on that jersey for the last time, because it was the first jersey you put on,” DeRozan said.
DeMar DeRozan on retiring as a Raptor:
“If I had the opportunity to do something like that, you can’t turn something like that down, to put on that jersey for the last time, because it was the first jersey you put on.”
(via @SmithRaps) pic.twitter.com/bnkslFyhkl
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 15, 2024
DeRozan is beloved in Toronto for his time there, and it would be quite the sight to see him return to the team and retire with them at the end of his career.
The shooting guard is criminally underrated for his ability to score because of his lack of playoff success, but means a lot to the Raptors franchise.
NEXT:
DeMar DeRozan Believes Raptors Would Have Won Title Without Kawhi Leonard
