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Whether it’s at home, on the road or even during practice, there is always something or someone that reminds DeMar DeRozan of his evolution and stature in today’s NBA world.

It seems like yesterday when the Raptors used their first-round pick to select this skinny, athletic kid out of USC who left school following one year.

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Like any rookie thrust into the spotlight of what it is a cut-throat world, DeRozan was the proverbial deer in the highlight, insulated, to some degree, by veterans who nurtured him and by a head coach in Jay Triano who allowed DeRozan to play through mistakes.

DeRozan started, a role that’s only expanded in the intervening years, and it’s now beginning to dawn on him of his career arch and newly minted allotment as one of the game’s senior statesman, this at the grand old age of 28.

“I always joked about it early on, but now I really do,’’ began DeRozan. “You look around and see you guys who were young and who were kids coming up in basketball, high school stars who go to college and become stars, coming into the league. It’s crazy.