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The Whiteboard: DeMar DeRozan is going to love the San Antonio Spurs

By Ti Windisch

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors handles the ball against the Washington Wizards in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 27, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors handles the ball against the Washington Wizards in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 27, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Nobody likes having to move, but eventually DeMar DeRozan will come to love his new team, the San Antonio Spurs.

DeMar DeRozan is reportedly very upset about his trade from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs, and that makes sense. The Raptors reportedly told DeRozan he wasn’t getting traded at Summer League, and after he left money on the table to help Toronto in his last contract he certainly believed his Canadian employer.

The Raps biting on a Kawhi Leonard deal that didn’t involve them trading most of their precious future assets makes sense too, even if it is risky, but that’s beside the point. DeRozan is furious that he won’t retire a career-long Raptor after all.

He might calm down relatively soon, though. Luckily for DeRozan, he didn’t get dealt to a rebuilding team or a shoddily-run franchise. He’s going to the Spurs, a franchise that hasn’t had a losing season since 1997. DeRozan turned eight that year.

For most of his life, DeRozan’s new team has been a postseason lock. Many of those seasons saw San Antonio get to the NBA Finals, and five of them saw the Spurs hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Kawhi himself aren’t coming through that door in San Antonio, but I wouldn’t count out Gregg Popovich just yet.

Pop will find ways to make DeRozan his best self on offense, and will also devise ways to hide his defensive weaknesses while helping him to improve on that end. DeRozan is a hard worker who doesn’t seem like he cares much about fame–that makes him an ideal Spur. LaMarcus Aldridge is by far the best big man DeRozan will have ever gotten to play with outside of All-Star Games, and those two will torch teams with the pick-and-roll all season long.

It sucks that DeRozan got split up from Kyle Lowry and the franchise and city he once loved. That pain will last for a while. It might never go away completely. Heading to the Spurs, a franchise that works to do right by its players helmed by a coach who understands life is so much bigger than basketball, should help with the healing process exponentially. Also, DeMar already knows he looks awesome in black.

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