In the beginning, it was easy to be suspicious of DeMar DeRozan. On the night in 2009, when he was selected by the Raptors with the ninth pick in the draft, the teenaged one-and-done from the University of Southern California announced his arrival to the northland by heaping a Vince Carter comparison upon himself, proclaiming via social media that “Air Canada’s back (in Toronto).”
Never mind that Carter was an eight-time all-star and former rookie of the year who, for one sometimes-forgotten smidgen of time, had once been the most popular basketball player on the planet. Never mind that DeRozan possessed a fraction of Carter’s raw talent.