Toronto Raptors trade city-dissing Goran Dragic and fans are like buh-bye
It was a brief and rocky relationship with his adoptive new home in the north, but the Raptors have shipped off veteran talent Goran Dragic as part of a multi-player NBA trade deadline deal that will see the Slovenian legend take his talents to the San Antonio Spurs.
The deal, which dropped mid-day Thursday, sends Thad Young, Drew Eubanks, and a 2022 second-round pick acquired from the Detroit Pistons north of the border in exchange for Dragic and a protected 2022 first-round pick.
Fans didn't get to see much of Dragic, who has spent much of the season injured or benched, playing just five regular-season games in a Raptors uniform before Thursday's trade.
Even before he ever suited up for the team, Dragic had rubbed Toronto fans the wrong way with comments about the city, for which he later apologized.
The Toronto Raptors are trading Goran Dragic to the San Antonio Spurs for Thad Young, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 10, 2022
But the damage was done, and fans never really got behind Dragic, feeling shortchanged after the aging star came to Toronto needing an attitude adjustment after an off-season deal that shipped Raptors great Kyle Lowry to Miami.
Even after Dragic bad mouthed the team a lot of people were still giving him a chance and welcoming him with open arms and he still openly showed he never wanted to be here.
— C.J. Graves (@CJGraves_) February 10, 2022
Dragic claimed to have "higher ambitions," but he'll now be departing a team in unexpected playoff contention for the struggling 13th-place Spurs. So much for those ambitions Goran.
Dragic wanted to get traded because he had “bigger aspects” and now he on the spurs 💀💀💀
— Lucas 🧙♂️💫 (@forwardice) February 10, 2022
There seems to be debate as to whether Dragic never deserved the Raptors, or if the Raptors never deserved Dragic.
I'll correct that for you quick, Dragic never deserved the Raptors
— JD (@gibbysguns) February 10, 2022
For fans north of the border, there seems to be no love lost with this latest move, many seeming happy to see what they perceive as an unwilling teammate move on the objectively less green pastures.
He never did anything to begin with lol we're fine without him
— Twin (@jaredtsm) February 10, 2022
Though many still think that this could be part of a bigger movement in the works before the deadline expires, and many others suggest San Antonio will buy out Dragic's contract and ship him to the Dallas Mavericks.
So maybe he'll get to chase those higher ambitions after all.
