Nets’ DeMarre Carroll out Friday vs. Raptors for rest

Brooklyn Nets forward DeMarre Carroll (9) drives against Memphis Grizzlies guard Andrew Harrison (5) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017. (Brandon Dill/AP)

Bad news for Toronto Raptors fans heading to Friday night’s game with the Brooklyn Nets at Air Canada Centre hoping to give DeMarre Carroll the type of welcome that had usually been reserved for the likes of Vince Carter and Chris Bosh: the Nets forward won’t be in the lineup.

After Brooklyn played their Manhattan cousins on Thursday, Carroll has been given Friday night’s game off against the Raptors for “rest.”

This will likely come as a disappointment to many fans in attendance for Friday’s game as Carroll’s critical remarks about the Raptors and his role with the team upon being traded to the Nets this past summer rubbed many the wrong way.

Those comments, compounded with the fact he originally signed a four-year, $60-million deal with the club in the summer of 2015 (the largest contract in franchise history at the time) and only delivered two ineffective, injury-plagued seasons after a strong two-season stint with the Atlanta Hawks, made many Raptors onlookers sour on Carroll.

It was assumed that fans would likely boo Carroll mercilessly with Friday being the first time he would be back in the city since being dealt by Masai Ujiri and Co.

Alas, it just isn’t to be on this occasion. Maybe he’ll be rested enough to face his former club when Brooklyn next visits Toronto on March 23?

And for fans looking to get those negative vibes out of their system in the short-term, Carter and the Sacramento Kings visit Sunday.

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