Raptors: Will the latest Spurs rumors DeMar DeRozan back to Toronto?

DeMar DeRozan is one of the greatest players in the history of the Toronto Raptors, as the former lottery pick out of USC became a four-time All-Star in his nine-season run north of the border. He has spent the last three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, as he was moved in order to get Kawhi Leonard up north.

While DeRozan missed out on championship glory, he is proving that he is still a quality scorer in this league with San Antonio, as he is averaging an even 20 points per game in a season that saw him garner some legitimate All-Star buzz. 

While the Spurs are in the thick of the playoff race in the Western Conference, Gregg Popovich and RC Buford seem inclined to lean on youngsters like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Dejounte Murray. The youth movement could force San Antonio to turn some of their veterans, like DeRozan, into draft picks.

Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting that the Spurs are putting almost all of their veterans on the trade market. DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Rudy Gay are all available as San Antonio looks to build around their young core. Could the Raptors do the unthinkable and somehow get DeRozan back in Toronto?

What would it take for the Spurs to trade DeMar DeRozan to the Raptors?

DeRozan is making just shy of $28 million this season, so the Raptors would need to send a ton of players over in order to make the money match up. However, DeRozan is a free agent at the end of this year, and that could drive his value down just a bit on the trade market.

The Spurs are clearly eyeing some draft picks, but the Raptors only have two, both of them first-round picks, in the next two drafts. Masai Ujiri needs to be confident in DeRozan, with whom he has a fractured relationship, choosing to sign another deal with the Raptors in order to make this deal a success.

On the court, DeRozan can give the Raptors the scoring and versatility they need on the offensive end. San Antonio has been playing him down on the low block at times, and he’s used his lethal mid-range game and distributing ability to keep the Spurs’ offense rolling.

The Spurs might decide to cross Toronto off a list of potential suitors, as trading Leonard to the Raptors for DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl, only to then give them DeRozan back years later, might be a tough pill for that front office to swallow.

However, the DeMar DeRozan-Kyle Lowry tag team helped make the Raptors one of the East’s true contenders over the last decade. With age doing little to slow either of them down, the Raptors could try to get the band back together and bring a franchise icon back home.