NEWSLETTER
DeMar DeRozan made himself clear at his end-of-season press conference: “Anyone under 24. Mandatory.”
The assertion came after DeRozan was asked which of his teammates would join him in Los Angeles for his grueling offseason workout regimen. Patrick Williams became his primary victim one summer ago, and the 21-year-old will likely be back on the West Coast in the coming months.
Joining him should also be the 20-year-old Dalen Terry, who might already be stuck under DeRozan’s wing. A recent video by dashletics on Instagram showed Terry hard at work on his ball-handling skills. Now, a picture by Cassy Athena posted by the same athletic trainer shows DeRozan in-house alongside his youngest teammate.
Check it out on Instagram here or via the account Nothin’ But Bull that re-shared it on Twitter:
DeRozan and Terry looked like they built quite a bond throughout Terry’s first full year in the NBA. You know, the kind of bond where Terry endlessly pestered DeRozan by crashing his interviews and throwing a mic in his face. So it’s not too surprising that the veteran has already gone to visit his annoying little brother. Plus, it can’t hurt to give him a little introduction to what he might experience at Casa de DeRozan.
In all seriousness, DeRozan’s leadership has been one of his best qualities since joining the franchise two seasons ago. While his future might be in question a bit with a contract extension decision looming, keeping his locker room presence around wouldn’t be a terrible thing for an organization trying to establish a healthier culture.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing how he can help Terry take the next step. We rarely saw the high-energy forward on the court during his rookie year. And I have to imagine the coaching staff and front office want that to change sooner than later.
More on Terry’s underwhelming first year here:
