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It was a little over two years ago that one of our writers, Ryan ZumMallen, texted JJ and I and said, “Hey, this kid from Compton DeMar DeRozan is going to be in the NBA in two years, and he’s playing at Lakewood tonight. <\/span>We should probably go check him out.” <\/span>Last night, DeRozan completed his relatively short journey to his dreamworld, when he was called up to the podium as the ninth overall draft pick. <\/span>He’ll be heading across the border to play for the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n DeRozan was projected to go anywhere from third to fifteenth, but with the Raptors he’s almost guaranteed a lot of minutes next season, so the nineteen-year old will be on ESPN soon enough. <\/span>Raptors head coach Jay Triano told his team’s local paper, the Globe and Mail, that “it was very close in the room. <\/span>We have a lot of arguments [about whom to pick’ but every night when we left, DeMar DeRozan was still at the top of our list.”<\/p>\n We’ll let you know when he signs his deal, officially finishing off his journey to a dream that so many young players have, and so few see realized. <\/span>And for those of us left in Long Beach, and Compton, we’ll have the joy of rooting for him as he travels down the (hopefully long) path of his career. <\/span>And we’ll of course be left with the memory of that night in the Lakewood gym, when we watched a 17-year old kid pass the ball to himself off the backboard, and dunk it. <\/span><\/p>\n