Kings' DeMar DeRozan Hints at How He'd Like to Conclude NBA Career
NBA All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan will enter his 16th NBA season and his first with the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings will be DeRozan's fourth team in his league, and while he's had much success in his previous stops, he will never match his play and experience than when he was with the Toronto Raptors.
DeRozan appeared on the JD Bunkis Podcast on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, and DeRozan was asked if he would like to finish his career as a Raptor. The 35-year-old didn't mince any words and said it would be a 'poetic ending.'
"You always want a poetic ending (in) that way," he said . "Granted, most people don't get to write their own ending. But what a better ending than being able to end where you start. Not just end, by just putting up the jersey. It has to be in a sense of me still being myself.
"I wouldn't want to come back and be (Hakeem) Olajuwon (who finished his Hall of Fame career as a Raptor for one season with hugely diminished numbers). It has to just make sense. You kind of want to go out like you came in. That's what people kind of remember you as."
The Raptors traded DeRozan in the summer of 2018 after nine seasons in Canada. He, along with Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round draft pick, went to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
He spent the next three seasons in Texas, where he averaged 21.6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 22.7 percent from three over 206 games.
DeRozan left a legacy in Toronto, and although it's been seven seasons since he was traded, he still keeps Toronto close to his heart. As a Raptor, he reached heights no other Raptor has, aside from winning a title.
DeRozan was the Raptors' first-round draft pick in 2009, selecting him with the No. 9 overall pick. In 675 games and 663 starts, DeRozan averaged 19.7 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from three.
The six-time All-Star is about to enter the first year of his three-year deal worth $76.7 million with the Kings. If he wants to end his career in Toronto, it is definitely possible, but he will be in his age 38 season.
It's unclear how much DeRozan has left in the tank, but considering his age, it could be sooner rather than later.
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