Demar Derozan traded with the San Antonio Spurs in 2018, but revealed that he and Kyle Raleigh were trading almost together.
When the Toronto Raptors traded franchise icon Demar Derozan in 2018 for Kawhi Leonard’s San Antonio Spurs, the Raptors knew Leonard would be on a one-year rental and signed with the California team the following summer.
By trading Delozan, Toronto opened a one-year title window and maximized it, beating the Golden State Warriors in 2019 to win the only title.
Leonard was surrounded by homemade talents such as Fred Vanvriet, Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, Mark Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Kyle Raleigh, arguably the great Laptor Kyle Raleigh.
Laurie and DeRozan made Toronto appear five times in a row before Leonard arrived, but they couldn’t pass LeBron James. The raptors had exhausted their patience and almost blasted their cores before Leonard joined the team.
In 2013, the Raptors traded their best player, Rudy Gay, for the Sacramento Kings, starring in a total of 550 games, scattered with role players who could never turn into a star.
After the gay was shipped, Derozan, who had just made his first All-Star Game, was hoping for him and Laurie to come next.
“When I traded Rudy (gay), Kyle was traded and I remember they were going to trade because they were going to blow it up. Run your race. “Do you know what I mean? That was the whole plan. Everyone is screaming “Tank for Wiggins.” ”
The Raptors finished the 2013-14 season with a 48-34 record, making their first playoffs in six years, and ultimately became a playoff fixture.
Laurie became the second best player during the title run, and rebuilding the top player in the 2014 draft wouldn’t have worked unless Andrew Wiggins missed and landed Joel Embiid.
Kyle Lowry will end his career as a great player for the Toronto Raptors. Yes, Derozan had more points and Leonard led them to the title, but Laurie remained the face of the franchise.
His six All-Star appearances are the most of the Raptors players, with him leading the winning share franchise, created by games, points, assists, steel and three-pointers.
It’s hard to forget, but Raleigh spent six seasons in the league before finishing in Toronto, and was generally considered a role player rather than a star. Had Toronto traded him in 2013 or ’14, the returns would not have been that big at all as he wasn’t playing the All-Star Game yet.
When Toronto traded gays in 2013, they were 6-12. They then finished the season with a 42-22 record in the remaining games, and Raleigh will make his first All-Star team the following season.
Building around the promising Wiggins from Canada at the time seemed like a Toronto dream scenario, but patience with Raleigh certainly paid off.
