DeMar DeRozan: I would have led Raptors to title if not for Kawhi Leonard trade

Former Toronto star argues LeBron James in East was only thing stopping them

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Published Sep 12, 2024  •  4 minute read

Demar Derozan says that he could've led the Raptors to a NBA championship. Postmedia files

He has said it before and DeMar DeRozan is sticking to his story.

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The former Toronto Raptors star believes he would have led the franchise to an NBA title had he not been traded for Kawhi Leonard and it appears you can’t change his mind on that fact.

DeRozan, the all-time Raptors leader in points and games played, told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith this week that he thinks the 2018-19 Raptors still would have won it all had they not dealt himself, Jakob Poeltl and a draft pick for two-time NBA Finals MVP Leonard and starting shooting guard Danny Green.

“The only person we couldn’t beat was LeBron (James),” DeRozan told Smith. “That’s just what it was. And I felt off the year we had before, we just needed one more piece to push us over the top. And that piece came to be LeBron going to the West. I didn’t get an opportunity to see what would have happened … I have no doubt in my mind the same outcome would have happened,” he said.

James, who led his Cleveland Cavaliers to three series wins in a row against the Raptors, two of them sweeps, left for the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2017-18 season.

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Only Allen Iverson and Luka Doncic have averaged more points in regular-season meetings against the Raptors than James, who has scored 27 a night vs. Toronto in 60 non-playoff games. Only Iverson has averaged more than the 31.1 points James has averaged against Toronto in the post-season.

The final sweep included DeRozan being benched for the final 14 minutes of Game 3 (which ended with the Raptors rallying with DeRozan sitting and James hitting a ridiculous one-handed game-winner) and his ejection late in the third quarter of Game 4 after committing a flagrant foul  out of frustration.

That was the final game for both DeRozan and head coach Dwane Casey as Raptors.

But DeRozan’s confidence has helped get him this far. It has made him one of the most devastating scorers in the NBA, a three-time all-NBA player (twice on the second team) and six-time all-star, so maybe it’s not surprising he believes only James held his Raptors teams back.

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Toronto went 4-2 with DeRozan in playoff series against non-LeBron opponents, winning the final four non-LeBron series of his time in Toronto.

However, unlike Leonard, a two-time NBA Finals MVP with one of the more impressive post-season resumes in the history of the sport, DeRozan traditionally has played worse in the playoffs than in the regular season. He shot 41% as a Raptor in the playoffs, compared to 45% shooting in the regular season.

DeRozan had said before his trade to San Antonio that he was ready to improve his defence and help take the Raptors to another level.

In an interview with then new head coach Nick Nurse just a week before the deal, Nurse discussed with Postmedia how he had challenged DeRozan.

“I wouldn’t make the comments if I thought he was shying away from it,” Nurse told Postmedia at the time. “We sat down, he’s on the edge of his seat saying, ‘What do you got for me.’ I was like, “Well’ … and I start in and he finishes my sentence: ‘I know, I’m better than that, I want to work at it.'”

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From there, Nurse gave DeRozan a plan and added: “I don’t expect you to be Bruce Bowen (by) Game 1, but by the time the playoff hits, we’ve got to have you (defending) because there’s no place we can hide you,” Nurse said.

“And he’s totally down, he’s got the ability physically, he knows what he’s doing. We’ve got to make a plan and a long-term plan and stick with it a little bit.”

A week later all of that became moot and DeRozan never got the chance to prove things had changed.

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DeRozan would have had to lift his game significantly to get the Raptors by the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2 in 2019. That Sixers team was loaded and the Raptors only edged by on Leonard’s iconic shot (not to mention his 34.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in the series).

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Toronto then had to beat an excellent Milwaukee Bucks team and the Golden State Warriors, with Leonard doing much of the heavy lifting, though he slowed a tad towards the end of the run.

Only James and Michael Jordan have scored more points in one playoff year than Leonard did and he also provided top-notch defence and rebounding.

DeRozan is back in the spotlight with the release of his new memoir Above the Noise, which was co-written with Toronto sports journalist Dave Zarum.

The book details his youth in Compton, Calif., his struggles with depression and desire to speak openly about it, as well as his basketball career.

“I’m just trying to reach anybody who feels like they’re alone, more so than anything,” DeRozan recently told the Canadian Press in an interview. “Anybody who feels like they’re alone, that the struggles they’re going through are too much. Showing that it is possible to make it through, and also encourage them to show vulnerability and find strength within that as well, and show that it’s a continuous journey.”

Now 35, DeRozan is about to embark on his 16th NBA season and first with the Sacramento Kings. He is 31st in career NBA scoring (just behind Steph Curry and sixth amongst active players. He has a shot at cracking the Top 25 later this season and eventually of getting into the 15-20 range.

DeRozan will be discussing Above the Noise at an event in downtown Toronto on Friday.

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