Late last night, the Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA world when they agreed to trade star DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard.
Via ESPN
The Toronto Raptors are finalizing a deal to acquire San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard in a trade package that includes All-Star DeMar DeRozan, league sources told ESPN.
Toronto and San Antonio have been talking about the trade for two weeks, and several incarnations of packages have been discussed, league sources said.
Sources close to DeRozan told ESPN’s Chris Haynes that DeRozan met with Toronto brass in Las Vegas during summer league and was told he would not be traded.
Before the trade was officially announced, DeRozan took to Instagram to blast the Raptors for lying to him about the trade.
In a story posted on his Instagram page on Wednesday morning, DeRozan wrote, “Be told one thing & the outcome another. Can’t trust em. Ain’t no loyalty in this game. Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing… Soon you’ll understand… Don’t disturb…”
👀👀👀 ok then Demar…
Cc: @World_Wide_Wob pic.twitter.com/dD8qmYfS13
— Matt Sisneros (@Matt_Sisneros) July 18, 2018
Meanwhile, @DeMar_DeRozan not backing off of claim he was lied to by Toronto regarding a potential trade, per source. Extremely upset.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 18, 2018
It’s pretty cold that the Raptors tried to smooth things over with DeRozan this week while secretly negotiating his trade behind his back.
The San Antonio-Toronto deal has been close for days and nearly fallen apart several times, league sources tell ESPN. Ujiri wanted to inform DeRozan himself late last night, in hours before trade call. DeRozan and longtime teammate Kyle Lowry talked hours ago, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 18, 2018
Smh cold game
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) July 18, 2018