LeBron James was by far the most dominant player in the NBA when he played in the Eastern Conference for the Cleveland Cavaliers during his second stint there. Among the many teams he beat en route to four straight NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018, the Toronto Raptors were one of the unfortunate victims. In a recent episode of Podcast P with Paul George, former Raptors player Norman Powell described the havoc that LBJ would unleash upon the Eastern Conference during those years and how that ended up completely upending the Raptors’ roster.
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In the podcast episode, Powell talked about one of LeBron’s buzzer-beater moments, which helped the Cavs sweep the Raptors in the 2018 playoffs. Unfortunately, right after this series, DeMar DeRozan was cut from the team and was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. Powell told Paul George and crew how he knew something like this would happen immediately after James hit a spectacular buzzer-beater.
Norman Powell reveals how LeBron James’ insane buzzer-beater ended DeMar DeRozan’s Raptors stint
Los Angeles Clippers star Norman Powell still remembers being swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James in the 2018 playoffs. One of the most insane moments of the series was James’ buzzer-beater shot in Game 3. This pushed the Raptors further to the edge of their most devastating playoff exit to date.
Right after the shot, Powell recounted looking at Fred VanVleet in a moment of despair. At that moment, Powell realized a significant change was coming that would break the core of the then-Toronto Raptors team. Describing the moment to PG, Powell said, “I knew something was going to happen. Like when LeBron [James] hit that little buzzer beater with the light running, me and Fred looked at each other in the locker room like, ‘Yeah man, something gotta go, something’s going to change.'”
“And, like, we didn’t know what it was. Number one seed, and we got swept. That don’t happen,” he added. Powell knew immediately that some major changes were due, including key changes in personnel.
Indeed, Powell’s intuition was correct, as the Raptors went through major changes that very year. The second-round playoff loss brought Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs to Toronto, only for DeMar DeRozan to receive the cut.
Things did work out in favor of the Raptors after that, as the Kawhi Leonard trade was monumental for their 2019 championship run. Despite suffering through injuries, Kawhi was crucial in leading Toronto through the postseason in 2019 to gift them their first-ever championship.
DeMar DeRozan was upset about being traded to the Spurs
The consequences of the Raptors’ devastating 2018 playoffs exit landed heavily on DeMar DeRozan. Despite being a franchise leader in several categories for the team, the current Chicago Bulls star was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard that very year.
As TNT’s David Aldridge reported, DeRozan was ‘extremely upset’ and felt Toronto betrayed him in a way. DeRozan posted a series of Instagram stories highlighting his frustration about the situation.
DeRozan, at that moment, was a part of the Toronto squad for over nine years, being picked ninth overall by the team during the 2009 NBA draft. After an unfortunate stint in San Antonio, he is currently a core part of the Chicago Bulls roster, as we head into the 2023-24 season.
