TORONTO (AP) DeMar DeRozan knew he was never going to leave Toronto, his home away from home.
The All-Star shooting guard re-signed with the Raptors, agreeing to a reported $139 million, five-year deal Thursday without really testing the free-agent market.
”I am Toronto,” DeRozan said. ”Outside of where I’m from, I represent this city harder than anybody. I’ve got so many goals I want to accomplish still, I just can’t wait to put that jersey back on and keep going.”
DeRozan took only one meeting with only one team, amd that was the Canadian club that drafted him ninth overall in 2009.
The 6-foot-7 DeRozan averaged a career- and team-best 23.5 points along with 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 35.9 minutes in 78 regular-season games last season. He averaged 20.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 37.3 minutes in 20 postseason games to help lead Toronto to its first- Eastern Conference final, where the Raptors lost to eventual NBA champion Cleveland.
The Raptors also confirmed the signing of free-agent forward Jared Sullinger. He averaged 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in 81 games with Boston last season.
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