A couple dozen people formed a semi-circle around his locker, waiting patiently for a guy who loves to chat.

Finally, in came Greivis Vasquez, the Toronto-loving ex-Raptor who was finally meeting the media four months after being dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks.

He was known as a talker, always willing to share his thoughts or whatever was on his mind about any topic under the sun.

He made his way to his stall, turned to face the horde and smiled.

“I miss you.”

From other athletes it would be a joke, a disingenuous off-the-cuff remark; from Vasquez, it was genuine.

“I do,” he asserted. “I miss the city, I miss the fans, but it’s part of the business, you have to move on and we’ve got a big-time opportunity (Sunday night).”

Vasquez made his mark on the franchise and the city in just a year and a half with the Raptors. He was a solid producer on the court and an unwavering publicist for the city. When he was dealt away in a draft-night deal that yielded Toronto an extra future draft choice and a pick that turned into Norman Powell, it stung.

“It was extremely hard because I was so engaged with the city and the fans and the team, but it’s part of the business, you’ve got to move real fast,” Vasquez said.

“We really didn’t do a good job at the end of the season and it was either going to be me or Lou (Williams), and it was both … It was tough, we had something going.”

Something going, but perhaps headed in the wrong direction. The Vasquez-Williams pairing never did work well. Both were defensive liabilities who played much the same position, and it seemed doomed from the start.

Toronto’s blistering first month of the season was a mask on a defensively weak team. The departures of Williams, as a free agent, and Vasquez should have been no real surprise after a four-game playoff flameout.

“As you know, we were the No. 1 team in the East for 61 days and everybody started expecting so much out of us, and we didn’t fulfill those expectations and it happened,” Vasquez said.

“It was hard to swallow the whole thing but, like I said, it’s new opportunity and I’m excited.”

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Vasquez, who had nine points in 25 minutes against Toronto on Sunday, is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $6 million this season and he is in a backup role with the Bucks. It could be that he’s a placeholder for young second-year Canadian guard Tyler Ennis, who is about two weeks away from returning after shoulder surgery, but Vasquez will make the most of it.

“I feel I have so much to prove, that’s how I feel as a player every night I step on the floor,” he said. “I really, really like the opportunity. Believe it or not, this is a great opportunity.”