Former Toronto Raptors player DeMar DeRozan recently made a statement that has fans and sports analysts alike talking. DeRozan suggested that if he and former head coach Dwane Casey had stayed with the team, they would have won a championship.
DeRozan played for the Raptors from 2009 to 2018 and led the team to the playoffs five times during his tenure. However, the team was unable to make it past the Eastern Conference Finals, and DeRozan was eventually traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard in 2018.
Leonard, who had previously won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs, proved to be a valuable asset to the Raptors, leading the team to their first-ever championship in 2019. Many fans and analysts credit Leonard as the key to the team’s success that season.
However, DeRozan believes that if he had stayed with the team, the outcome would have been different. In a recent interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, DeRozan concurred with Smith’s statement that the Raptors would have won a title if he and Casey had stayed in Toronto. DeRozan said, “Most definitely. Most definitely. It sucks that we couldn’t see what could have happened with me still being there that just changes the whole dynamic and everything. But I definitely felt that.
“I congratulate all those guys for winning that championship. Every guy that I played with, everybody that was there, especially that city. They deserved it. We would have did the same thing.”
DeRozan’s comments have sparked a debate among fans and analysts about whether or not the Raptors would have won a championship with him on the team. Some argue that Leonard’s leadership and skill were instrumental in the team’s success, while others believe that DeRozan’s presence on the team would have made a difference.
