TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan has heard the talk and he wants to set the record straight.

According to the longest serving Raptor, anyone expecting huge changes to the way the Raptors play basketball is basically talking through their hat.

“I think the media kind of blow it out of proportion like it’s going to be something dramatic, like a complete dramatic 180-degree change,” DeRozan said, who was back in Toronto helping out with the Raptors’ Basketball Academy at Humber College on Monday. “It’s not that at all. It’s just moreso locking in and understanding what it takes to win from every single position. Everyone just know from our failures, guys stepping up and being better leaders, not just me and Kyle but everybody. I think once we lock in and everyone holds themselves accountable, everything else will come around perfect. That’s all it is.”

The talk of a “culture change” began when president Masai Ujiri took to the podium after the season and looking back suggested change was coming. He used that phrase “culture change” and the media jumped on it.

DeRozan didn’t disagree when it was suggested more ball movement might be demanded this season, but he did say the anticipated level of change by many outside the team is completely out of whack with the reality. The offence is still going to run through himself and Kyle Lowry.

Then there’s the issue of his own game. There is video evidence, and he willingly copped to it, of him hitting 64% of 700 consecutive threes he took as part of his workout Monday night before Tuesday’s morning’s camp with the kids.

DeRozan confirms the numbers are legit and that he has been working on his game as anyone who knows him even a little bit is par for the course in any off-season for DeRozan.

But any perception of him having a love affair with the three-ball is, like the coming culture change we keep hearing so much about about in Toronto, is being overplayed in some corners.

Yes, he’s invested in improving that part of this game. That is true. But it is not the focus of his off-season.

As with every off-season the focus is on getting better and that just happens to include those shots from behind the arc.

“My focus is always coming back better,” DeRozan said. “It’s never just one thing. It’s something that I always pride myself on. I’ve never understood when guys say I’m going to come back better at just this one thing. I’m just going to come back better period overall. That’s been my approach this whole summer. Come back better.”

DeRozan said the three-ball element of his game is just a another piece, one he admitted he’s felt capable of doing but one he just never really went to because of the success he’s had within the offence without it.

“I’m not even really adding it,” he said. “ I just never really shot it because I always felt like I didn’t need to shoot it.

It’s there when I need it. I don’t have to think about it. People always say I can’t do it but I just never really wanted to do it because I always felt like I could do everything else at a high level.”

Featuring it a little more in his game is certainly not out of the question, but talking to him you get the impression you’re not likely to see him camped out behind the three-point line on a regular basis just yet.

But DeRozan is self-aware enough to know that eventually that time will come when he does need it and he’s not about to get to that point and need it only to realize he hasn’t put enough work in on that part of his game.

“I’m going into my ninth year” DeRozan said. “I want to be like Vince (Carter) when I slow down. Then that’s when it comes to shooting threes and play a long career like that. If you want to call it going into my prime or whatever, that’s something I want to have that in my bag. I’m not getting any faster. I’m not jumping any higher, but everything else can get a lot better.”

DeRozan has already had a full summer of basketball and it’s not about to let up. He’s been playing in the Drew League in LA, paid a visit to Vegas when the Raptors were there for Summer League and has been working out quite a bit with fellow L.A. native Norm Powell in between all that.

His workout crew in L.A. will grow with a number of the Raptors joining him and Powell when he returns later this week.

Until then it’s get a workout in wherever his schedule happens to take him and continue to get better.

BROWN ADDS DEPTH

The Raptors went with a little experience and some added size at the guard position in using up its second of two two-way contracts for the coming season.

Lorenzo Brown, who will be 27 when the season starts joins small forward Malcolm Miller, meaning the Raptors have now filled both two-way contracts the league is introducing this year.

In essence, the two additional two-way contract spots give the respective teams that employ these players some security knowing no other team can come in and claim them at a moment’s notice after the initial team has invested in the development of that player.

Brown is considered a bit of a unique case given his age. While other teams are using these spots to invest in the future potential of a player they can now protect, the Raptors are going with a guy who has likely already reached his potential and has experience in the NBA and can help the team right away.

Brown, 6-foot-5 and 189 pounds, has 63 NBA games on his resume between Philadelphia, Minnesota and Phoenix. He split last season between the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association and Grand Rapids of the D-League (now known as the G-League).

He’s never been a great shooter but did knock down 35.3% of his three-ball attempts with Grand Rapids.

mganter@postmedia.com