The Raptors can date the beginning of their transformation into serious contenders to June 25, 2009. That’s the night DeMar DeRozan was drafted.
The Toronto Raptors had enjoyed a couple of years of fringe contention around the turn of the century. In May of 2001, they even managed to win their first playoff series by knocking off the Knicks in Game 5, right in Madison Square Garden.
However, the squad couldn’t recover from the dreadful Vince Carter trade in December 2004. Even though GM Rob Babcock wasn’t fired immediately, the draft picks he received in the deal weren’t put to effective use (we won’t talk about the players we got for Vince – Aaron and Eric Williams…are you kidding? And don’t get me started about Alonzo Mourning.)
Babcock’s lottery picks were Rafael Araujo and Charlie Villeneuva, neither of whom made it through a second season in Toronto. While Chris Bosh was rounding into the form which elevated him to the top ranks of power forwards, the same couldn’t be said for Andrea Bargnani. After another losing season in 2008-09, the Raptors were back in the lottery, and ended up selecting ninth.
To say this draft was top-heavy with talent is a severe understatement. Blake Griffin was picked first, James Harden third, Ricky Rubio fifth and Stephen Curry seventh. The Raptors chose a skinny 2/3 man from the University of Southern California, DeMar DeRozan.
It bears repeating – character matters
Yours Truly was at the Air Canada Centre that night, and joined in the guarded cheering (we’d been burned before) when DeRozan’s choice was announced. Maurizio Gherardini, at the time GM Bryan Colangelo’s right hand man, spoke to the assembled fans, and assured us we would be happy with DeMar.
What I remember most about Gherardini’s thoughts was the fact he concluded by telling us the team had checked out DeMar’s character, and been assured he was a person of quality. Based on the excellent years he gave our team, and the devotion he displayed to our city, that’s unarguable.
DeRozan’s rookie season didn’t provide much cause for optimism. He started 65 games for a team which just missed the playoffs. In the summer of 2010, Chris Bosh waltzed off to Miami, and the Raptors were bottom feeders until the turnaround season of 2013-14. Not coincidentally, that was DeMar’s first All-Star year. He’s only missed once since then.
We’ll sum up DeMar’s Raptors history this way: his name is all over the team records page, including most-points, -games and -minutes. Beyond the numbers: as a loyal teammate and franchise advocate, DeMar stands alone.
From a basketball perspective, DeMar going to San Antonio is justifiable. Despite that rationalization, the deal still hurts – guys like him are rare indeed.
Checkout day 18 of our “23 days of Raptors history” when we look back at the Raptors trade for Kyle Lowry.