DeRozan good fit in The North

All signs point toward free agent remaining a Raptor

On one side, the Toronto Raptors. Here DeMar DeRozan has teammates he loves, a 56-win team, a personal challenge, a contract that will pay tens of millions more, and a city that he has embraced since being drafted, and has come to call home.

And on the other side, the Los Angeles Lakers. There may be other suitors for the 26-year-old allstar unrestricted free agent, but the Lakers are widely seen as the only real competition. The Lakers offer the purple-and-gold mystique, and the challenge of replacing his favourite player, Kobe Bryant. And, of course, he was born and raised in Compton. One day after Toronto’s six-game loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference final, DeRozan doesn’t seem too conflicted.

“I grew up in L.A.,” said DeRozan, who averaged 20.9 points on .394 shooting in 20 playoff games, with low points and peaks. “That’s my home. There’s not a part of L.A. I haven’t seen. I don’t get caught up into (talk of his wanting to be a Laker). I let whoever comes up with that say what they want to say. Only thing appealing to me is the things I’ve done in this organization and the things that can be done here.

“And that’s always been my mindset since I’ve been here.”

Can you ask for more than what Toronto gives you, he was asked.

“I don’t think so . . . my mindset has always been Toronto. I always preached it. I was passionate about it when we was losing. When we was terrible, I said I’m going to stick through this whole thing and I want to be that guy who brings this organization to where it is now. I defi-

nitely don’t want to switch up after we win.”

Sounds like an intention to commit, I said, as the news conference rolled on.

He grinned. He looked over at the Star’s Doug Smith.

“I’ve been saying it for, how long I been here, Doug?” DeRozan asked, smiling.

“Long time. I haven’t changed, not one bit. I took pride in putting that Raptors jersey on when people counted us out or when people said, ‘Why go to Toronto? Why this, why, that, why this, why that.’ You hear it so much, that gave me the motivation to want to prove people wrong, or prove critics wrong why this organization can’t be a winning organization. You know what I mean? I took pride in that a long time ago. And it’s crazy even now, I see people bring up a tweet I tweeted after Chris left. And I don’t even remember tweeting it, but I

meant that. I really meant that.” The tweet read, “Don’t worry, I got us.” “If DeMar said it, he meant it,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

This should not come as a shock. DeRozan has always talked about how much he values this organization, about loyalty, about how much he admires players who spend entire careers with one franchise.

“I think that’s the most incredible thing you can do,” he says.

He is fiercely proud of Toronto. He told a story Saturday that he decided to go to USC because he realized it might be the last chance he had to play in his hometown, in front of friends and family, before beginning his NBA career. He says winning is the priority. The Lakers won 17 games last season.

Home, of course, can be powerful. In a quiet moment in a hallway, DeRozan nods.

“It is,” he says. “And now I’ve got time to really hone in and think about everything.

“There, it’s easy to get overshadowed. I had close friends that played for the Lakers, and they told me how great it is, and at the same time, unless you win a championship, they don’t care. The bar is set. And that’s a challenge every athlete should want to take on, but me, I picture something (here), it could be great.”

Barring something unexpected, Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri will try to sign him. And barring something unexpected, DeRozan wants to stay. Whatever the benefits or drawbacks, they will figure it out later.

“I never seen someone do something and said I want to do it that way,” DeRozan says. “I want to do it my way. For the longest time, there was no surpassing Vince (Carter), and in my head for the longest, I always told myself, ‘I’m going to have an opportunity to be one of the greatest Raptors of all time, to do something that hasn’t been done yet, to do something that hasn’t been dreamed of.’

“And for me, to be second all-time scoring, the most wins as a Raptor, that’s something — you might not see it now, but that’s a legacy. Unless you go there and win seven championships, there’s no overshadowing who played there for 20 years. That’s that. My whole mindset has always been, what can I do here that’ll separate me from others? And maybe someday, somebody will say, I want to try to pass DeMar. I want to do what DeMar did.

“But now I’ve really got to sit down over the next couple weeks and think logical about it. Decide what matters.

“But talking to you now, this is my home. I was 19 when I got drafted. I did a lot of things here, but there’s still so much to be done, and that’s what it’s about.”

“And for me, to be second all-time scoring, the most wins as a Raptor, that’s something — you might not see it now, but that’s a legacy.” RAPTORS’ DEMAR DEROZAN ON WHAT MATTERS TO HIM