Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

Las Vegas — Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had both earned a low-key summer. Leading Toronto to its most successful season in franchise history, and giving the city its first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals — where they took the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers to six games — it would be fair if the duo expected things to slow down a little in the offseason.

DeRozan, a highly-sought after free agent, could have found himself having a stressful July. Instead, he invited members from the Raptors front office into his home shortly after the free agency negotiation period began and wasted no time tying up loose ends on a new five-year deal with Toronto. While DeRozan was signing on to remain a Raptor long-term, Lowry was in Scotland, for a golf trip where he got a much-deserved taste of vacation.

The All-Star backcourt could have enjoyed a business-as-usual summer, filled with early morning workouts and afternoon scrimmages, but when USA Basketball called both were ecstatic to switch up their summer plans. Neither player was about to take the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics for granted. Getting to add another experience to the things they’ve accomplished together over their five-year friendship is just another bonus.

“It means a lot,” Lowry said. “It just builds on the things we’ve done together as a unit. It means that we worked extremely hard to get to this position and we both earned it.”

For DeRozan, who saw countless teammates come in and out of the locker room through his first four seasons with the team, the stability he’s found with Lowry has been immeasurably important.

“It means everything,” DeRozan said of suiting up for Team USA alongside Lowry. “We’re playing for the Olympics. We’re playing in the Olympics for a gold medal. Two teammates…It’s a great experience when you look at it that way.”

While other players prefer to take the offseason to rest tired bodies and minds, DeRozan couldn’t imagine passing up the shot for Olympic gold. After winning a gold medal with Team USA in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, adding another to his collection would be the icing on the cake to cap off the best individual basketball year of his professional career.

“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “A lot of professionals don't get the chance to compete for a gold medal for their country and to have two teammates do that and try to do that together is awesome.”

With the USA squad taking over Las Vegas for a week of training camp at UNLV’s Mendenhall Center, there has been plenty of time for bonding. Among players and Team USA’s coaching staff as well. After a recent practice, Lowry was engaged in an animated conversation with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, while DeRozan was trying to play through the ever aggressive defence of assistant coach Monty Williams.

Raptors fans got their fill of Paul George and Kyrie Irving during the postseason, but for DeRozan and Lowry, it’s fun to get to play alongside some of the same guys they had spent the season trying to slow down.

While Lowry got to reunite with college coach Jay Wright of Villanova, DeRozan was keeping a close eye on Irving, hoping to get the inside scoop on his finishes in traffic.

“It’s fun man,” Lowry said. “Being around Monty and Thibs [Tom Thibodeau] and Coach K [Krzyzewski], me being around Jay again, just the fact that those guys are helping me, pushing me, it’s a setting you never thought you’d get to be a part of. Now you’ve got a bunch of coaches and players that are [functioning[ as one.”

With so many talented players in one setting, one might wonder if ego or reputation ever gets in the way, but that isn’t an issue with this group of NBA superstars who recognize a goal bigger than themselves individually. The biggest issue concerning this group seemed to be trying to keep the court clear of milling reporters after practice sessions so guys could continue to workout long after they’ve finished walkthroughs.

As Kevin Durant struggled to carve out space to get up three-pointers from the corner on Wednesday afternoon, he called out to Lowry to help clear out the media crowded around him. Lowry wore a wide smile as he shouted out traffic directions, moving reporters and creating room for Durant.

“This group is phenomenal,” Lowry said. “This group of guys as individuals, as men, athletes. It’s crazy. We really are bonded together forever. I think everyone understands and we’re all taking it in as one and we all appreciate it.”

Despite an offseason schedule that is suddenly a bit busier than it appeared at season’s end, you won’t hear any complaints out of DeRozan or Lowry.

“Just being out there with all the guys you compete with throughout the year, the guys you prepare for night in and night out, to come together with all the best players in the world is awesome,” DeRozan said.