CHARLOTTE, N.C. — DeMar DeRozan was 26 at the time and scoring almost 24 points a game for the Raptors. In his mind, he was indestructible.
And he wasn’t alone, either.
Kyle Lowry and even Jonas Valanciunas had their sights set on overthrowing LeBron James.
After falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals in 2016, the Raptors tied the series after a 32-point game by DeRozan, then a 35-point performance from Lowry.
As DeRozan explained it, “That’s when we got our [butts] kicked.”
A 38-point beatdown in Cleveland followed, then a 26-point blowout in Toronto.
It was the first of three consecutive postseason losses to James’ Cavaliers, but the only one that took place in the conference finals.
It was over for DeRozan in Toronto after the 2017-18 season. He was traded to the Spurs that offseason only to see the Raptors win an NBA title without him.
Why take the stroll down memory lane now? For the same reason DeRozan is not the type of veteran to beseech the Bulls’ front office for help by the trade deadline Thursday: optimism.
“To be honest with you, speaking from just my point of view, I have the ultimate faith, whether it’s in myself or my teammates, that we can pull it together,” DeRozan said. “Then you understand that it’s all about the time, the perfect timing, health, some luck kicking in right when you need it. I’m always optimistic that it’s going to come together for the group.
“Other people are different, more strategic or look at stuff a different way. Like I’m a bad planner. I hate when I’m asked what I’m going to do Friday because I have no clue.”
That was a mindset he picked up from playing on those Raptors teams. It was a group of guys that would rather use the lessons of losing to toughen themselves rather than make a public display about needing help.
“Those times kind of gave me the experience of how to work, how to win, what it takes to win, what it’s like to play against a great [player], how difficult it is and what you need to go up against something like that,” DeRozan said.
“At the time I didn’t really think, ‘I need this, I need that.’ You’re young, and we felt confident about that group.”
The problem now is DeRozan isn’t young anymore. And his current teammates aren’t poised to take on the game’s elite in the postseason. With their inconsistency, they’re barely poised to get out of the play-in round.
So whether it’s his belief in his teammates or simply that he doesn’t want them to go through the pain of being traded like he did, DeRozan is not budging off that stance.
To make matters worse, even if DeRozan did ask management to shake things up by the deadline, all indications are that the Bulls don’t have — or aren’t willing to part with — the necessary pieces to do so.
Optimism, or maybe blind faith, might be all the Bulls have left.
“No, I’ve got confidence with everyone in this room, everyone on this team,” guard Coby White said when asked if he thought the Bulls needed a shake-up.
“We all believe in each other no matter who’s out there, who’s playing. We’re always going into the game knowing we’ve got a chance to win no matter who’s out there.
“As long as we play to the same identity every night, we can live with the outcome. But the games that we don’t play to our identity are the games we can’t have.”
