PORTLAND, ORE.

As a one-on-one interview wound down, Ed Davis couldn’t help but send a strong message on behalf of close friend DeMar DeRozan: “Tell Toronto to come with a max offer, don’t play,” Davis called out.

It is good advice. Somebody is going to offer DeRozan the maximum available, which will be a huge raise over his current $10 million or so (nearly 21/2 times his existing salary per season) once he opts out and becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.

You can bet the Raptors will step up. DeRozan has become the face of the franchise, even with Kyle Lowry starting back-to-back all-star games, because he has embraced the city of Toronto since Day 1 with the club and has taken great pride in representing the Raptors and Canada.

His play has also warranted a maximum offer, whereas in the past it might have been a tough call.

Toronto can offer both more money on raises and a longer contract than any other team.

Davis, Toronto’s first-round selection the year after DeRozan went ninth overall in 2009, is the godfather to DeRozan’s daughter and the pair keep in touch on a regular basis.

Not surprisingly, Davis is extremely proud of how far DeRozan has come in making himself a two-time all-star and one of the NBA’s top scorers.

“For sure, he always put the work in, especially in the off-season, two-a-days and just the things he do, working with his trainer and I’ve seen his growth over the years,” Davis told the Toronto Sun.

While DeRozan was always a top-tier athlete, he had to spend countless hours in the gym honing his actual basketball skills to get to this point.

“I told him, ‘hard work pays off. You earned it, they didn’t give you s---,’ so, I’m happy for him,” Davis said.

Meanwhile, Davis has been a nice fit in Portland with a young squad that has been one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises.

He dove into why that has been the case.

“I think individually a lot of guys with chips on their shoulder and a lot of guys getting bigger roles and more opportunities, so they want to prove themselves and everyone did it unselfishly,” Davis said.

“Everything’s starting to mesh together and we’re starting to play well. The perfect mix for the situation.”

CASEY: LILLARD SHOULD BE ALL-STAR

Dwane Casey didn’t mince words, calling it a “travesty” that Blazers guard Damian Lillard didn’t make the all-star team.

“I don’t know who is better out there. I know there are some good guards in the West, but there aren’t too many point guards better than Damian Lillard,” Casey said.

There’s a lot of that going around. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan agreed, as did their former teammate, Blazers big man Ed Davis.

“We didn’t even sit here and talk about it, he should have made it, but that’s politics, that’s how it goes sometimes,” Davis said.

“I look at it like we’re trying to make this playoff run, turn heads and turn people wrong. That’s been his whole story his whole life, just prove people wrong, so it’s just more motivation for him … He’s not going to lose any sleep over it.”

The Raptors lucked out with how good Lowry has become, but there was a time before his arrival where the club badly wanted to land Lillard.

“I’ve been a Damian Lillard fan since the draft. I think we brought him in four times into Toronto,” Casey said.

“He is one of the best in our league and he and Kyle going against each other, if I didn’t have to coach, I’d enjoy watching it.”

Only Lillard, Lowry, Stephen Curry and James Harden have notched at least 1,000 points, 300 assists and 125 three-pointers this season.