DeMar DeRozan still isn't over being traded to the San Antonio Spurs, and on Wednesday he finally told his side of the story.
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DeRozan sat down with ESPN's Chris Haynes, telling him he's still in stock by what transpired a week ago when he was traded by the only team that he's played for in his nine-year NBA career.
"I mean I'm still in shock," DeRozan told Haynes. "I'm still in shock. Second person I talked to that night, that I'm close friends with, was Rudy Gay. I was upset.
"And I called him like, 'Man, dude's just traded me.' Rudy was like 'What? To who?' And I was like 'To y'all.' He started laughing. He said 'Look, I don't mean to lie, but I got my boy back. You gon' be aight, man. Don't worry about it.' I was like, 'Man, I shouldn't have called you. I should have waited until it came out and you called me.'
"It was cool to be able to call somebody that's close in my life that's on the Spurs too. So he made it easy."
With LeBron leaving Cleveland, DeMar DeRozan told @ChrisBHaynes that the Raptors had their sights set on a ring. pic.twitter.com/AwOfBbBKCG
— ESPN (@espn) July 25, 2018
DeRozan also discussed how the trade came as a shock to not only him but some of his peers around the league.
In a recent press conference, Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri apologized to DeRozan and his family for the miscommunication prior to the deal that sent him to the Spurs.
Ujiri also talked about the Raptors having to improve from the core that continued to fall short in the post-season, something that stood out to DeRozan.
"I mean, when you say 'them,' that's kind of frustrating," DeRozan continued. "Like who is 'them?' You put the blame on just me and Casey?
"Because obviously, we are the only two who had to suffer from the loss that we had in the Cleveland series. But it's only one team that we lost to in the postseason -- and that team went to the Finals every single year.
"With an opportunity approaching itself, my mindset and the rest of my teammates' mindset was the only guy who was in the way of making that happen leaves. Now we got a great opportunity to do something that we haven't been able to do.
"At the end of the day, I gave everything I had to that team. And it showed, it showed in the progress we made as a team, as me as an individual. So when you put that out there saying 'gave them chances' and 'I have to do something'... It's B.S. to me."
The Raptors finished with a franchise-best 59-23 record in 2017-18. However, their season came to a dramatic end as they were swept in the second round by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second straight season.
