{"id":694521,"date":"2026-04-02T20:01:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694521\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T20:01:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:01:27","slug":"why-a-demar-derozan-raptors-reunion-is-suddenly-a-non-zero-possibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694521\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a DeMar DeRozan Raptors Reunion is Suddenly a &#8216;Non-Zero&#8217; Possibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">In some ways, the Toronto Raptors got a taste of their own medicine in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/onsi\/news\/toronto-raptors-suffer-worst-loss-season-vs-sacramento-kings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">their loss against the Sacramento Kings. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">Former Raptors legend DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points as he helped his Kings earn their 20th win of the season against Toronto, the place he called home from 2009-18. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">Since leaving the Raptors in 2018 after being traded to the San Antonio Spurs, DeRozan has been a bit of a journeyman in the league. DeRozan spent three seasons with the Spurs, followed by another three with the Chicago Bulls. He is now about to finish his second season with the Kings with one more year remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">DeRozan spoke with Sportsnet reporter Michael Grange before the game between the Kings and Raptors. He expressed a possible desire to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nba\/article\/raptors-fail-test-against-kings-as-derozan-achiuwa-burn-former-team\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one more shot at a championship<\/a> before the end of his career. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">&#8220;DeRozan is interested in finishing his career off with one more crack on a competitive team. He said he\u2019d be open to a different role \u2014 DeRozan has started every game he\u2019s played since the 2009-10 season \u2014 if necessary,&#8221; Grange wrote.<\/p>\n<p>DeMar DeRozan Finishing Career With Raptors Would Be Legendary<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn7emfrz9ds2kgj3wb.jpg\" alt=\"Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan shakes hands with Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl\" title=\"Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan shakes hands with Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl\" width=\"4773\" height=\"2684\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"72\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan shakes hands with Toronto Raptors center Jakob Poeltl. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">DeRozan is set to make $25 million next season with the Kings, so he is expected to play with Sacramento next season, but they aren&#8217;t going to be competitive even if they do end up with the number one overall pick in a loaded 2026 NBA draft. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">By the end of his contract, DeRozan will be 37 years old, going on 38, but the way his game works allows him to be a bit more durable than some other players his age. He would have the chance to complete a legendary and Hall of Fame career by finishing it where it all started in Toronto. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">The Raptors would benefit from having another scorer, possibly off the bench, in DeRozan. He could join the team at a time when Scottie Barnes is closer to being in the prime of his career. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/onsi\/news\/toronto-raptors-inconsistent-rotation-ultimate-playoff-stress-test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Raptors rank 25th in the NBA<\/a> in points off the bench with 32.8 per game, which is a number that needs to change if they want to get closer to a championship. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">Adding DeRozan, who is still one of the best scorers in the league at 18.6 points per game, would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/onsi\/news\/four-big-numbers-toronto-raptors-shocking-loss-vs-kings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">certainly help the Raptors in that regard. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">It&#8217;s still a long time before a possible reunion, but there appears to be a nonzero chance at this time.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">Sign up for our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/onsi\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free newsletter<\/a>, which will bring all Toronto Raptors On SI stories every weekday to your email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In some ways, the Toronto Raptors got a taste of their own medicine in their loss against the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3792],"tags":[7,4056,6,986,477,4055],"class_list":{"0":"post-694521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento-kings","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-kings","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sacramento","12":"tag-sacramento-kings","13":"tag-sacramentokings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116336899192737515","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}