Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan isn’t worried about Kyrie Irving joining the division rival Boston Celtics. He just hopes his friend is happy.
“It’s great as long as he’s happy,” DeRozan said in an interview with ESPN’s Cari Champion. “It’s going to be interesting to play against.”
DeRozan was also asked about Irving’s decision to leave the seemingly comfortable situation of playing with LeBron James in Cleveland for the untested waters of leading his own team in Boston. The Raptors’ star defended Irving, saying it’s too early to predict what will happen.
“Only time will tell, you have to see how it will play out,” DeRozan said. “You can give all of the opinions and criticism towards it but you never know until the beginning of the season and the ball goes up.”
Champion then turned the discussion to the Raptors and the upcoming season, asking DeRozan how many more pieces the Raptors need to compete with the Celtics and Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. DeRozan was coy about getting specific on that topic, but said the team has been looking for that final piece for a while.
“It’s hard to say, the last couple years we’ve always felt that we’re only a piece away, a piece away. Whatever piece that may be we’re still trying to figure that out,” he said. “Going into this season, we added and subtracted some things so we’re going to see.
“As long as we stay healthy anything is possible.”
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